Ask a Bookseller

Lauren Richards, co-owner of Tropes & Trifles in Minneapolis, recently hosted author Shirlene Obuobi to launch her new paranormal romance novel "Die for Me," and Richards is very excited about this book.

Sean is a cardiologist with a good salary, a dog, a best friend, and a goddaughter. Having taken time to heal from an abusive relationship, she has her life together and she isn't looking for love. Then she meets Julian at a wedding, and their chemistry is combustible. He's wealthy, attractive, and stable in his own life, but he's 11 years younger.






Want to add this book to your library? Purchase it here and support MPR and a local bookstore of your choosing






Get more in your inbox Sign up for the book newsletter from MPR, the Thread






This is a bad idea, Sean tells herself. She's seen her older male colleagues trade in their wives for younger models. Could she date a younger man?

Richards was insistent on not revealing any spoilers in this paranormal romance, except to say that Julian only seems to be younger than Sean.

"One of the really interesting things that I love about paranormal romance is all of the power dynamics. Those obviously exist in any kind of relationship, even if you're just two regular old humans," but there are further complications when one person is, say, immortal.

Sean is the only Black woman cardiologist at her hospital. The main character’s career reflects the author’s own life: in addition to being an artist, Shirlene Obuobi is a Ghanaian American cardiologist.

Looking to get lost in a fun series this summer? Elizabeth Foster of Inkwell Booksellers Company in Minneapolis says the books that keep flying off her shelves are the novel-meets-video-game series "Dungeon Crawler Carl" by Matt Dinniman.

Here's the scenario: Aliens have come to Earth and taken control. If you want to live on as a citizen of the universe, you must survive the levels of a video game they've created.






Want to add this book to your library? Purchase it here and support MPR and a local bookstore of your choosing






Get more in your inbox Sign up for the book newsletter from MPR, the Thread






The novels themselves read like video games, with characters' stats at the start of each chapter, skills, quests, levels and prizes (which often contain Easter eggs and hints to the reader as to what is coming next).

Our hero, Dungeon Crawler Carl, enters the video game with his ex-girlfriend's fluffy show cat, Princess Donut. Like other animals who enter the game, the cat becomes sentient and, naturally, has a great deal to say.

"I am a Princess Donut posse fan for life," says Foster. "She's my favorite character because she's not written like a person in a cat's body. She's written like a sentient talking cat. So there are certain moments where she just goes off on this total rant — this tangent, hilarious moment [where it's clear] that this is a cat talking. This is a cat with a beef against cocker spaniels, and it is beautiful."

You don't have to be a gamer to love these books. Along with the engaging characters, Foster says she was drawn in by the excellent world-building and bursts of dark humor that bring perfectly timed moments of relief from the end-of-the-world scenario.

She first started reading the series in 2020 when Dinniman began publishing in e-book format. As the books grew in popularity, Penguin Random House picked them up and published them in hardcover. The eighth book came out in May, with books nine and 10 in the works.

Foster's advice? Definitely start with book one, since the books build on one another as the characters level up.

Sarah Brown of Zenith Bookstore in Duluth read an early review copy of Oana Aristide’s novel “Astronaut!” and she has eagerly been awaiting its official release Tuesday. She called it her favorite book of the year so far, hands down.

It’s part detective novel, part coming-of-age, set in a political environment where official lies are proclaimed as truth.






Want to add this book to your library? Purchase it here and support MPR and a local bookstore of your choosing






The year is 1989; the place: communist Romania, under the authoritarian rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Detective Constantine is tasked with chasing down a serial killer plaguing the city. According to the official line, though, there is no serial killer in Romania. The deaths are blamed on rogue bear attacks.

The second storyline follows Lia, an elementary school girl whose inquisitive, creative spirit is constantly getting her in trouble with the officials. By a fluke, she wins an opportunity to recite a poem before Ceaușescu. Lia’s parents, Brown said, are very worried about this.

“What is she going to say to him? What’s going to happen? Meanwhile, her crusty old neighbor starts planning a little surprise for Ceaușescu. You, as the reader, know this might not be a good thing,” Brown said. “These two plotlines come together in a wild, very satisfying conclusion. It’s just a great, amazingly written book. And I’ve read it twice already. I will probably read it again.”

Maria Lockwood of Foxes and Fireflies Booksellers in Superior, Wis., has a suggestion for a great historical fantasy series that will appeal to fans of “The Mummy” movies. She recommends the Raiders of the Arcana series, which starts with "Empire of Shadows," written by Jacquelyn Benson.






Want to add this book to your library? Purchase it here and support MPR and a local bookstore of your choosing






The series begins in 1898 in England, but archaeologist Ellie Mallory and dashing adventurer Adam Bates soon travel to Central America in search of a lost city.

Naturally, there’s a ruthless villain determined to beat them to the discovery and a mythical artifact buried within the ruins. The series has a slow-burn romance with fun, flirty banter.

Lockwood loves the characters. She describes Ellie as “a woman suffragette, so she's very opinionated. She jumps in there and takes control, and I love that about her! The characters are so real, they just jump out of the page at you. You feel like you're carrying around your best buddies in your handbag when you want to read a book; these are great buddies to have along on any kind of excursion,” said Lockwood.

There are three books in the series, plus a prequel novella, with a fourth book coming in January.

Are you ready to believe a few impossible things? If so, Sue Zumberge of SubText Bookstore in St. Paul recommends the novel “Enormous Wings” by Laurie Frankel.

“The moment I mention that it is about a 77-year-old woman who becomes pregnant, people sort of back away from me,” Zumberge said. “I think it is best described by the epigraph at the beginning of the book, which is from Hilary Mantel's book, ‘Mirror and Light.’ ‘We know it is impossible. The question is, who can best endure impossibility?’”

The novel follows Pepper Mills, who moves into a retirement home at her grown children’s insistence. There, she falls in love with another resident and, to the shock of everyone, becomes pregnant.

They live in Texas, and a doctor threatens Pepper’s children and their livelihoods if she should seek an abortion.

Zumberge said this novel makes an excellent summer read, with themes that feel both timeless and urgent: “our relationship with our family, our relationship with our partners, our ability to make our own choices—not just about keeping a pregnancy, but whether we are able to live on our own.”

“The important aspect of this book is that it opens us, through this impossible scenario, to so many other possibilities within our lives. It is a beautiful book.”