Good Books from Minnesota*
History
Creating Minnesota: A History from the Inside Out Annette Atkins. 2007
“Fascinating approach to the history of our state.”
Giants in the Earth: A Saga of the Prairie. (English ed.) O.E. Rolvaag. 1927 and 1999
Norwegian pioneer family’struggles with the land and the elements in Dakota Territory.
Rolvaag taught at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.
Minneapolis Madams: The Lost History of Prostitution on tbe Riverfront. Penny Petersen. 2013
“probes the 19th century ecosystem of brothels and streetwalkers”
Memoirs
Leaving Rollingstone [MN]. Kevin Fenton. 2013
Fenton, a farm boy turned ad man, taught fiction at The Loft in Minneapolis.
The Florist’s Daughter. Patricia Hampl. 2007
Author is a St. Paulite of Czech-Irish heritage and well-known author of fine prose.
Non-fiction
Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask. Anton Treuer, Professor
of Ojibwe at Bemidji State U.. 2012
“Straightforward, fascinating, funny, and often wise” Louise Erdrich
Rez Life. David Treuer. 2012
History and memoir from the reservations showing how Indians got where they are
today.
Coming Home Crazy: An Alphabet of China Essays. Bill Holm. 1993 and 2000
Author returned from teaching English in China.
The Singing Wilderness. Sigurd Olson. 1956 and 1997
Nature writer and conservationist “with something to satisfy every taste for wilderness
experience” (Illustrated by Francis Lee Jaques)
Photo Essay
Back to the Cabin. Dale Mulfinger, U. of M. School of Architecture. 2013 “foremost expert
on
cabins in North America” Photos and floor plans of 37 “homes away from home“.
Great Houses of Summit Avenue and the Hill District. Karen Melvin, photographer. 2013
St. Paul’s grandest old street.
Growing Home: Stories of Ethnic Gardening. Susan Davis Price. 2000
Lavishly illustrated look at recent immigrants to Minnesota and the gardens they have
created using methods from the old country .
AIA Guide to the Twin Cities: The Essential Source on the Architecture of Minneapolis-St.Paul.
Larry Millett. 2007
(Also see his mystery series starring Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota.)
Fiction
Staggerford. John Hassler. 1977 and 1986
Satirizes academia and the narrowness of American small town life.
In the Lake of the Woods. Tim O’Brien. 1994 and 2006
Minnesota mystery by the author of The Things They Carried and Going after Cacciato.
The Hiawatha. David Treuer. 1995 and 2000
Novel of Native Americans transplanted to the city (Minneapolis).
Vacationland. Sarah Stonich, Minneapolis author. 2013
Linked stories. past and present, set at a Minnesota lake lodge.
The Round House. Louise Erdrich, Native American writer; owner of Birchbark Books in
Minneapolis. 2012 National Book Award for Fiction in 2012.
There’s Something I Want You to Do: Stories. Charles Baxter. 2015
Ten interrelated stories set in Minneapolis, by a master of fiction.
Mystery
Tamarack County. William Kent Krueger. 2013.
Latest title in Cork O’Connor series set in northern MN. The series begins with Iron
Lake. Krueger won 2014 Edgar Award for Ordinary Grace.
Monkeewrench. P.J. Tracy. 2003 and 2004
In this mother-daughter team’s thriller a computer games software team helps a not-sotech-savvy Minneapolis detective track a serial killer. Series.
Stalking Susan. Julie Kramer. 2008 and 2009 Set in the Twin Cities broadcast-journalism
venue. Series.
Saint Mudd: A Novel of Gangsters and Saints. Steve Thayer, Edina, MN, author of The
Weatherman. 1988 and 2009.
Mystery-novel of corrupt St. Paul in the 30s.
Some other authors we boast about:
Robert Bly, poet. Silence in the Snowy Fields.
Carol Bly. Letters from the Country.
John Sandford. “Prey” series.
Garrison Keillor
Gary Paulsen
Kate de Camillo
*If you don’t find these in your library, ask for Interlibrary Loan service.