Minnesota Reads

When Persepolis opens, Marjane Satrapi is in grade school in Tehran. To her, the Islamic Revolution means now she has to wear a veil. Her French non-secular school closes and she must attend a gender segregated school. It means that when her mom is photographed by news agencies demonstrating in the streets, her mom must [...]

I approached Ariel Schrag’s Awkward and Definition with a little bit of trepidation. Earlier this year I made the proclamation that I was going to read one graphic novel a week, and since I’m an equally-opportunity reader I went in search of female authors. Since, I’ve already read Persepolis and Fun Home I had to [...]

These are my best 11 books of 09 (I think I made that clear in the title). The order of the books will be the first one will be the best and 11th will be the 11th best. 1. The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman 2. Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta 3. American [...]

I met Jodie, aka FFJ [Fabulous Friend Jodie], in a short story writing class at The Loft back in 2003. And even though I totally rolled my eyes when she said her favorite author was Shakespeare, we still became friends. After the bookclub we joined fizzled into oblivious we started a sort-of-monthly book podcast called [...]

1. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken:This was the best book I read all year. No hemming, no hawing, no second guessing — the best. McCracken’s memoir about giving birth to a stillborn child and all that follows is heartbreaking, darkly funny, and something everyone on the planet should [...]