Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Wilder Weather’ by Barbara Boustead

13 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Mona’s Eyes’ by Thomas Schlesser

06 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Poppy State’ by Myriam Gurba

29 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Red Notebook’ by Antoine Laurain 

22 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Burner: And Other Stories’ by Katrina Denza

15 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘I See You’ve Called in Dead’ by John Kenney 

08 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Christina Tabereaux of The Snail on the Wall, a bookstore in Huntsville, Ala., recommends the novel “I See You’ve Called in Dead” by John Ken...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dominion’ by Addie E. Citchens 

01 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Auditions for the Fox’ by Martin Cahill

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Coming Up Short’ by Robert B. Reich

18 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Correspondent’ by Virginia Evans 

11 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Mafalda: Book One’ by Quino

27 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Why On Earth: An Alien Invasion Anthology’ 

20 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Little Shrew’ by Akiko Mikakoski 

13 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: The Mighty Muskrats mystery series by Michael Hutchinson

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: Live at the State Fair

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

September has begun, and with it, the anticipation of autumn weather, school, and great fall reads. Emily Bright of MPR News spoke with three booksell...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Absent in the Spring’ by Agatha Christie re-published 

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Hounding’ by Xenobe Purvis 

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘You Better Be Lightning’ by Andrea Gibson

09 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bat Kid’ by Inoue Kazuo

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘American Mythology’ by Giano Cromley

19 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Fox: A Novel’ by Joyce Carol Oates 

12 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Sour Cherry’ by Natalia Theodoridou

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Pretender’ by Jo Harkin

21 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

David Burton of novel, a bookstore in Memphis, Tenn., recommends his favorite book of the year so far: “The Pretender” by Jo Harkin, which he call...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Old School Indian’ by Aaron John Curtis

14 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding’ by Catherine Mack

07 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The River Has Roots’ by Amal El-Mohtar

17 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘My Friends’ by Fredrik Backman

10 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Buffalo Hunter Hunter’ by Stephen Graham Jones

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask A Bookseller: ‘The Antidote’ by Karen Russell

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘There Are Rivers in the Sky’ by Elif Shafak 

19 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Black Liturgies’ by Cole Arthur Riley

05 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘We Will Be Jaguars’ by Nemonte Nenquimo 

29 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Under the Whispering Door’ by TJ Klune 

22 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ask a Bookseller is focusing this season on books of hope and connection. Asked to recommend a book of hope, Beth Rusk of Magers & Quinn Bookselle...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dream Count’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

15 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dictionary of the Undoing’ by John Freeman

08 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Notes from the Porch: Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better About the World’

01 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Practice, The Horizon and the Chain’ by Sofia Samatar 

22 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Blob: A Love Story’ by Maggie Su

15 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Black Woods, Blue Sky’ by Eowyn Ivey 

08 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘A More Perfect Party‘ by Juanita Tolliver 

01 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Serviceberry' by Robin Wall Kimmerer 

18 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Wealth of Shadows’ by Graham Moore

11 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Blue Sisters’ by Coco Mellors

04 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees’ by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

21 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Let Us Descend’ by Jesmyn Ward

14 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Modern Poetry’ by Diane Seuss

07 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Julie Schultz of This House of Books in Billings, Montana recommends a book of poetry that made the finalist list for its category of the National Boo...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘No Two Persons’ by Erica Bauermeister

30 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

David Stippick of Lark & Owl Booksellers in Georgetown, Texas, recommends a novel they call “a love letter to readers.” It’s Erica Bauermeis...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘North Woods’ by Daniel Mason

23 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Just Us’ by Minnesota author Molly Beth Griffin

16 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Holly Weinkauf of Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul recommends “Just Us.” It’s written by Twin Cities author Molly Beth Griffin and illustrated b...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Smothermoss’ by debut author Alisa Alering

09 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Colored Television’ by Danzy Senna

02 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Scrap’ by Calla Henkel

26 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Click here.Of course, for the week of Halloween, we had to talk about a book that keeps you looking over your shoulder. Hunter Gillum of Beaverdale Bo...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Spellshop’ by Sarah Beth Durst

19 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: 'Penance' by Eliza Clark

27 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Everything We Never Had’ by Randy Ribay

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Attack of the Black Rectangles’ by Amy Sarig King

13 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Tree. Table. Book.‘ by Lois Lowry

07 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Minnesota booksellers talk recommendations, BookTok and how Gen Z is saving bookstores

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is winding down, but that doesn’t mean the causal beach read is going anywhere. MPR News host and newscaster Emily Bright spoke with three bo...

Ask a Bookseller: ’Dahlia’s Make a Difference Day’ by Jackie Brown

31 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bitch: On the Female of the Species’ by Lucy Cooke

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Wedding People’ by Alison Espach

09 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘For the Night’ by Rae Lyse

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Sweet Blue Distance’ and ‘The Frozen River’

26 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Call the midwife: Jolie Hughes of Morgan Hill Bookstore in New London, N.H., recommends two recent historical fiction books that both feature midwives...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Women of Good Fortune’ by Sophie Wan

13 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Hula’ by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes

06 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Star Bringer’ by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft

29 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘All the Colors of the Dark’ by Chris Whitaker

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘We Mostly Come Out at Night’ edited by Rob Costello

08 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Ministry of Time’ by Kaliane Bradley

01 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Looking for a novel you can pass around to your friends and family at the next gathering?Tiffany Lauderdale Phillips of Wild Geese Bookshop in Frankli...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Pest’ by Michael Cisco

25 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Stefen Holtrey of Brilliant Books in Traverse City, Mich., has a title for readers who love to be surprised by something experimental and new. He’s ...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Aednan: An Epic’ by Linnea Axelsson

18 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea’ by Rebecca Thorne

11 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Devil’s Element’ by Dan Egan

04 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Martyr!’

27 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Honey’ by Victor Lodato

20 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Art and Fear’

06 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This one’s for the creatives.Used bookstores can be a treasure trove of great reads, old and new, on a huge variety of topics. Dickson St. Bookshop ...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Three Little Tardigrades: A Slightly Scientific Fairy Tale’

30 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Just when you thought you’d seen all the possible variations on the classic story of the Three Little Pigs, a new one appears that goes farther than...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension’

23 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donna Garban of Little City Books in Hoboken, N.J., recommends a memoir that’s perfect for March Madness. It’s called “There’s Always This Yea...

Ask A Bookseller: ‘The Bullet Swallower’

16 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kara Thom of Excelsior Bay Books in Excelsior recommends a multi-generational novel, “The Bullet Swallower” by Elizabeth Gonzalez James. It’s a ...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Is God Is’

09 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How often do you settle down to read a play? Blake Worthey of Two Friends Bookstore in Bentonville, Ark., recommends the genre. Specifically, he sugge...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Violin Conspiracy’

02 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aaron Rishel of Friendly City Books in Columbus, Miss., is a music lover, so when a fellow bookseller recommended a literary thriller and mystery that...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Yours Truly’

17 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Yes, Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but we couldn’t resist getting a romance recommendation on Ask a Bookseller. Rachel Harris of Four Pines B...

Ask A Bookseller: ‘The September House’

10 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ryan Elizabeth Clark of Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, N.H., says her fellow booksellers refer to her as the “Queen of Scream” because she reads...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Black Queen’

03 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Dimaria of Cavalier House Books in Denham Spring, LA., loves a good thriller, and one of her favorite writers in the genre is Louisiana author J...

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Eyes and the Impossible'

27 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, the Newbery Award for Children’s Literature went to Dave Eggers for his middle grade novel “The Eyes and the Impossible.”Greg Danz of...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Boys in the Boat’

20 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The historical sports drama “The Boys in the Boat,” directed by George Clooney, is now in theaters. It’s based on Daniel James Brown’s nonfict...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Best Barbarian’

13 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ready for some poetry? Blake Worthey of Two Friends Bookstore in Bentonville, Ark., raves about Roger Reeves’ poetry collection “Best Barbarian.”...

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Half-White Album'

06 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let’s start off the new year with a debut book that defies genre. John Hoffsis of Treasure House Books and Gifts in Old Town Albuquerque, N.M., reco...

Ask a Bookseller: 'All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days'

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When Julie Buckles of Honest Dog Books in Bayfield, Wis., encountered Rebecca Donner’s nonfiction book, “All The Frequent Troubles of our Days,”...

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Twelve Hours of Christmas'

16 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Looking for a new read-aloud Christmas book? Amber Collins of Soul Book Nook in Waterloo, Iowa recommends “The Twelve Hours of Christmas,” written...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Maniac’

09 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Miller of Broadway Books in Portland, Ore., recommends the novel “The Maniac” by Benjamín Labatut.Labatut takes us back to the dawn of the ...

Ask a Bookseller: 'What the River Knows'

02 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amy Jiron of Hearthfire Books in Evergreen, Colo., recommends a visit to the Nile this December, in the form of Isabel Ibañez's novel “What the Ri...

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Truth about Horses' explores the nature of healing

25 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Caitlin Doggart of Where the Sidewalk Ends Bookstore in Chatham, Mass., says one of her top books of the year is Christy Cashman’s debut young adult...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Women’s House of Detention’

18 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Halee Kirkwood of Birchbark Books in Minneapolis says one of their favorite books from this year is “The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer Histo...

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Babel’

11 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Carson Crooks of Prince Books in Norfolk, Va., highly recommends R. F. Kuang’s novel “Babel,” which had him alternating between tearing through ...

Ask A Bookseller: 'A Rake of His Own'

04 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s Ask a Bookseller, Shayne Molt of Indigo Bridge in Lincoln, Neb., recommends the fantasy romance novel “A Rake of His Own” by A.J ...

Ask a Bookseller: 'Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood'

28 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sierra Keolanui, Lise Michelle Childers, and Allison Benz of Native Books in Honolulu, Hawaii, conferred about their favorite books and quickly reache...

Ask a Bookseller: 'Night of the Living Rez'

21 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this week’s Ask a Bookseller, Beth Leonard of Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, Maine recommends the short story collection “Night of the Livin...

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store'

14 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Shane Grebel of Watermark Books & Café in Wichita, Kan., says his favorite book of the year is the novel “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store”...

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Blue Bear'

29 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Part of the fun of talking with indie booksellers from across the country is hearing about long-standing local favorites. That was the case with this ...