Shows
What We're ReadingHayley Krischer's young adult thriller highlights dark side of wellness industryJournalist and author Hayley Krischer tackles the dark side of the wellness industry in her new young adult thriller You Belong to Me.Hayley is the author of The Falling Girls, Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf and the adult fiction book, Where Are You, Echo Blue? She’s also written for The New York Times, Elle and The Atlantic.In You Belong to Me, we meet high school student Frances Bean, seemingly comfortable in her group of goth outcast friends until a rich and popular girl she’s had a crush on for years shows inte...2025-06-3020 min
What We're Reading'Crossing Fifty-One' reveals family secrets, tense family dynamics Debbie Russell is the author of Crossing Fifty-One: Not Quite a Memoir.(Contributed / Debbie Russell)Digging into family history can lead to interesting discoveries and insights into your family’s dynamics. Debbie Russell, Minnesota lawyer-turned-writer, experienced this firsthand and shares her discoveries in her debut book Crossing Fifty-One: Not Quite a Memoir.In a recent What We’re Reading interview Debbie explained that she called the book “Not Quite a Memoir” because it is largely a multi-generational story. About 10 years ago, as her father Ralph’s health was deteriorating due to Parkinson’s Disease, she made a discovery in...2025-06-2313 minWhat We're Reading'Kitchens of Hope' celebrates immigrant stories and recipes from home Kitchens of Hope tell the stories of immigrants in Minnesota and their recipes from home.(Contributed / University of Minnesota Press)It started as an idea from some people involved with The Advocates for Human Rights in Minneapolis about 4 years ago: create a cookbook of immigrant recipes.Among this group of people were Linda S. Svitak and Christin Jaye Eaton, lawyer and attorney, respectively, who volunteer with the Advocates. Food writer and former editor of the Minnesota Star Tribune Taste section, Lee Svitak Dean was eventually brought in, as well as Minnesota Star Tribune photographer, Tom Wallace.2025-06-1613 min
What We're ReadingKent Nerburn takes us on a redemptive journey in ‘Lone Dog Road’ Kent Nerburn is the author of Lone Dog Road. (Contributed / New World Library)Kent Nerburn is the Minnesota author of several books on spirituality and Native American themes including the internationally acclaimed books Neither Wolf nor Dog, The Wolf At Twilight, and Chief Joseph and the Flight of the Nez Perce.His new book is a novel called Lone Dog Road. The story revolves around two young Lakota brothers on the run from a boarding school government agent. They journey across the prairies of South Dakota in search of pipestone in Minnesota to replace their great-grandfather’s čhaŋ...2025-06-0213 minWhat We're ReadingMini Book Club: Erin Entrada Kelly’s ‘The First State of Being’Librarians Tracy Kampa and Tammy Bobrowsky talk about Erin Entrada Kelly's book The First State of Being.(Contributed / Tammy Bobrowsky; book cover—Harper Collins)What We’re Reading producer Tammy Bobrowsky and Tracy Kampa, children's librarian at the Grand Rapids Area Library dive into Erin Entrada Kelly’s The First State of Being in their latest mini book conversation. This is a great story for young and old alike.This conversation has been edited for clarity.Tammy: The book we have read is Erin Entrada Kelly’s The First State of Being, which this Jan...2025-05-2709 minWhat We're ReadingBures’ ‘Pushing the River’ is full of adventure Frank Bures is the author of Pushing the River.(Contributed / Book cover—Minnesota Historical Society Press; Author photo—Author's website)Minnesota writer Frank Bures grew up skiing, fishing and canoeing on the Mississippi River in Winona. This informed his new book Pushing the River: An Epic Battle, a Lost History, a Near Death, and Other True Canoeing Stories. It’s a fascinating collection of true stories about canoeing on our Minnesota waterways.These days, we hear the occasional story about personal journeys people take paddling down the Mississippi River, but back in the day, people raced...2025-05-1912 min
What We're ReadingLili Taylor’s ‘Turning to Birds’ reminds us to engage with the world Lili Taylor is the author of Turning to Birds: The Power and Beauty of Noticing.(Contributed / Mike Fernandez, Audubon)Many may already know actor Lili Taylor from her work in films such as Ship of Fools, Ransom, Girls Town, Mystic Pizza and Say Anything, but now, Lili is also an author.During a much-needed break from her work, she sought peace and quiet--and in that quiet she rediscovered birds.Now an avid birder, Lili wanted to share how birding has helped her listen, practice mindfulness and be present and engaged with the world. She shares...2025-05-1211 minWhat We're ReadingTracy Kampa recommends children's books Children's librarian Tracy Kampa (Contributed / Tracy Kampa)Grand Rapids Area Library children's librarian Tracy Kampa returns to What We're Reading with four more great books to recommend. The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice: How to Discover a Shape, by Amy Alznauer, illustrated by Anna Bron.The Five Sides of Marjorie Rice is the latest book by Amy Alznauer. (Contributed / Penguin Random House)Tracy’s Take: By all accounts, Marjorie Rice was a quiet homemaker in the 1950s. Yet for her entire life, she had been fascinated with geometry and art, and that fa...2025-05-0510 min
What We're ReadingAmor Towles' 'Table for Two' shines with short stories, Hollywood noir novella Amor Towles is the author of Table for Two.(Contributed / Book image—Penguin Random House; Author photo—Dmitri Kasterine )Amor Towles was running out of time.He needed to submit his manuscript to his editor, but he still hadn’t come up with a title for his new collection of stories.In a recent What We’re Reading interview, Amor explained how hectic the publishing schedule can be, “You are reading that manuscript from beginning to end 10 times. You're doing it almost on a daily basis, or every other day...You're reading the piece from beginning t...2025-04-2812 minWhat We're ReadingNew anthology celebrates epic and ordinary moments between women Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces is a new anthology from Spout Press. (Contributed / Spout Press)The idea for the anthology Locker Room Talk: Women in Private Spaces happened in an actual locker room, according to the book’s co-editor, Michelle Filkins.In a recent What We’re Reading interview, Michelle, a founding editor of Spout Press and professor and librarian at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, explained that at the time of the book’s inception, she had been contemplating on how the locker room in the traditional sense had become an excuse for conver...2025-04-2112 minWhat We're ReadingEl-Mohtar's 'The River Has Roots' revamps the two sister ballad“What is magic but a change in the world?”In Amal El-Mohtar’s new novella, The River Has Roots, the said river is brimming with grammar, and grammar is magic.Amal is a Canadian writer of stories, poems and criticism. She is also the co-author, along with Max Gladstone, of the Hugo Award winning novel, This is How You Lose the Time War (2019).The River Has Roots is based on a seventeenth-century murder ballad type, the “cruel sister,” wherein the same man will court two sisters, and the older sister will usually murder the younge...2025-04-1512 minWhat We're ReadingLibrarian Tracy Kampa recommends new children's booksChildren's librarian Tracy Kampa reviews and recommends children's books.(Contributed / Book covers—via publishers)Two new picture books and three middle-grade books are among Tracy Kampa's latest recommendations. Tracy is the children's librarian at the Grand Rapids Area Library and reviews books for What We're Reading.Picture booksA Little Like Magic, by Sara Kurpiel. A Little Like Magic, by Sarah Kurpiel. (Contributed / Penguin Random House)Tracy's take: She didn't want to go. It was cold and windy and she didn't like heavy coats or boots or places she'd ne...2025-03-3109 min
What We're ReadingNash's new novel asks: What if you could hold on to time?2025-03-2412 min
What We're ReadingA dark force haunts a Minnesota casino in Staples' new novel Dennis E. Staples is the author of Passing Through a Prairie Country.(Contributed / Cover—Counterpoint Press; Author photo—Alan Johnson Photography)BEMIDJI—Dennis E. Staples is a writer from the Bemidji area and a member of the Red Lake Nation. His debut novel This Town Sleeps was published in 2020—a thrilling story taking place in Northern Minnesota blending Ojibwe legends with the modern world, and featuring Marion LaFournier, a mid-twenties gay Ojibwe man whose family has ties to sacred power.Marion’s story continues in Dennis’s new novel Passing Through a Prairie Country. In this story, fresh from a...2025-03-1709 minWhat We're ReadingWilla Hammitt Brown takes on the lumberjack lore in new book Willa Hammitt Brown is the author of Gentlemen of the Woods. (Contributed / Book cover—University of Minnesota Press; Author photo—Penny McCoy)Paul Bunyan and the lumberjack lore is strong here in Northern Minnesota with our roadside attractions, festivals and other namesakes. But the history of the lumberjack has complex roots, as explained by writer and historian Willa Hammitt Brown.Growing up, Willa spent a lot of time in Minnesota’s Paul Bunyan country – one of her earliest childhood photos is of her sitting in the giant cupped hand of the Paul Bunyan statue in Akeley. In her new...2025-03-1013 minWhat We're ReadingMinnesota writer Schultz wraps up supernatural thriller series Jennifer Schultz is the author of the Shaka Reed Series.(Contributed / Jennifer Schultz)Jennifer Schultz walks two paths. On one, she is a registered nurse in Northern Minnesota. On the other, the writer of the Shaka Reed Series of supernatural thrillers. Among her influences are H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, Margaret Atwood and Stephen King. But she notes that the true source of her writing comes from “an unknown place which begs to be expressed.”Hearts of Prey is book 2 of the Shaka Reed Series by Jennifer Schultz(Contributed / Jennifer Schultz)The Shaka Reed Series starts with...2025-03-0308 minWhat We're ReadingNPR correspondent Linda Holmes' new novel smart and romantic Linda Holmes is the author of Back After This.(Contributed / Author photo—Cassidy DuHon; Book cover—Ballantine Books)A podcast producer becomes the subject of a new show on modern dating where she agrees to have a social media influencer coach her through 20 dates with 20 men. Will a love match outside the show stir things up?This is at the heart of writer Linda Holmes’ new novel Back After This.Holmes is the author of the novels Flying Solo, and Evvie Drake Starts Over. She’s also a pop culture correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) and...2025-02-2707 minWhat We're ReadingFemale monsters, free will at odds in Barker's 'Old Soul'Susan Barker is the author of Old Soul.(Contributed / Cover/Putnam; author/Tom Barker)British novelist Susan Barker is the author of The Incarnations (2014) and The Orientalist and the Ghost (2008). She ventures into the world of highbrow horror with her beautiful and terrifying novel, Old Soul.The story starts with two strangers who learn that people they've both recently lost were involved with an enigmatic woman shortly before their deaths. One of these strangers, Jake, begins an investigation that will take him around the world and discover truly chilling and terrifying things about the character known as “th...2025-02-1909 minWhat We're ReadingFemale monsters, free will at odds in Barker's 'Old Soul'Susan Barker is the author of Old Soul.(Contributed / Cover/Putnam; author/Tom Barker)British novelist Susan Barker is the author of The Incarnations (2014) and The Orientalist and the Ghost (2008). She ventures into the world of highbrow horror with her beautiful and terrifying novel, Old Soul.The story starts with two strangers who learn that people they've both recently lost were involved with an enigmatic woman shortly before their deaths. One of these strangers, Jake, begins an investigation that will take him around the world and discover truly chilling and terrifying things about the character known as “th...2025-02-1909 minWhat We're ReadingLived experiences of Minnesota climate scientist, policy advisor Anna Farro Henderson is the author of Core Samples.(Contributed / Cover—University of Minnesota Press; Author photo—Craig VanDerSchaegen )Scientist and environmental policy advisor Anna Farro Henderson’s new book is Core Samples: A Climate Scientist’s’ Experiments in Politics and Motherhood. But in the prologue, she advises readers that the book is not “an explanation of science concepts or a guide to political procedure.”In a recent What We’re Reading interview Henderson described her book as “unprofessional writing about professional topics,” referring to the accessibility of the book. She explained, “One of my big concerns is that people will as...2025-02-1020 min
What We're ReadingTracy Kampa on 2025 Youth Media Award winners The American Library Association's Youth Media Awards take place annually.(Tammy Bobrowsky / KAXE graphic )The 2025 Youth Media Awards were announced Jan. 27 at the American Library Association’s “LibLearnX” conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The annual awards ceremony recognizes the top books in children’s and young adult literature from the previous year. Winner of the 2025 Newbery Medal .(Tammy Bobrowsky / Publisher Contributed ) The winner of the 2025 Caldecott Medal.(Tammy Bobrowsky / Contributed Media )Grand Rapids Area Library children’s librarian Tracy Kampa is an avid enthusiast of the award ceremony, specifically the coveted Newbery Award announcement, awarded to authors...2025-02-0311 min
Between You & MeTammy Bobrowsky of 'What We're Reading' on Ruta Sepetys' new writer’s guideTammy Bobrowsky of KAXE/KBXE's "What We're Reading" talks about reading about writing and Ruta Sepetys’ new writing book, which encourages people to tell their stories.2023-07-0917 min
Between You & MeWriter Kuyatt’s new middle-grade novel shares story of neurodivergent girlTammy Bobrowsky joined the Between You & Me podcast to share a recent conversation with Meg Eden Kuyatt, whose "Good Different" tells the story of seventh-grader Selah.2023-06-2716 min
Between You & MeBanned books, good librarians and romance reads: 'What We're Reading' host Tammy BobrowskyA broken-up couple has to fake being back together in Emily Henry's lastest novel "Happy Place," but first, we get to know a little more about "What We're Reading" host Tammy Bobrowsky, a longtime KAXE/KBXE volunteer and producer.2023-06-0726 min