Posted to Campbell Unclassified on June 4, 2021 at 2:31 PM by Genesis Gaule
Books have the extraordinary ability to take you anywhere you can imagine: across the globe, to strange new worlds, back in time, or flung far into the future. They can even take you back home. There is a unique feeling of “hey I know that place” or “that character reminds me so much of my dad/mom/next door neighbor/etc” that I only get when reading books set in Minnesota and North Dakota written by people who lived here.
So if you are in the mood to journey through our own neck of the woods, here are 6 regional reads to take you there.
Fiction:
|
A Fireproof Home for the Bride
by Amy Scheibe
Fiction SCHEIBE
Caught in a time bubble between a world war and the upheaval of the 1960's, 18-year-old Emmaline Nelson doesn’t have any say in her life or where it is headed. All her choices, especially who she will marry, are governed by her strict Lutheran parents. As her world opens up, she realizes that she longs to be something other than a farmer’s wife. But what can she do to escape the cage her parents have built for her? Peppered with charm and lush detail, this coming-of-age story of complicated family relationships, racial tension, and love is sure to transport you back to 1950’s Minnesota.
|
|
The Life We Bury
by Allen Eskens
Mystery ESKENS | Also in eBook and eAudiobook
A seemingly simple college assignment turns into deep dive to uncover the truth surrounding a brutal rape and murder. Tasked to interview a stranger and write a brief biography and his deadline looming, University of Minnesota college student Joe Talbert heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Car Iverson--a Vietnam veteran and convicted murderer with only a few months to live--and Joe’s life is turned upside down. Part mystery and part character study, Eskens debut novel crafts believable characters with compelling interpersonal drama.
|
|
The Round House
by Louise Erdrich
Fiction ERDRICH
Based on a number of true stories over the past 20 years, The Round House looks deeply into the fallout after a woman living on the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota is attacked in 1988. As she descends into solitude and her husband seeks justice, their 13-year-old son is left alone to look for answers and try to save his mother. Born in Little Falls, MN, raised in North Dakota, and an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Erdich is one of the most revered novelists of our time and a brilliant chronicler of Native-American life and culture.
|
Nonfiction:
|
Hundred Miles to Nowhere: An Unlikely Love Story
by Elisa Korenne
813.6 KORENNE
When singer-songwriter, Elisa Korenne, took a month’s sabbatical from New York to be an artist-in-residence in “middle-of-nowhere” Minnesota, she didn’t intend to stay. And she certainly didn’t intend to fall madly in love with the local outdoorsman/insurance guy. Her story is an honest and heartfelt reflection on the ups and downs of their love story, culture shock, and what it means to live in community.
|
|
The Horizontal World : Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere
by Debra Marquart
921 MARQUART
From a very early age, Debra Marquart--the youngest and wildest of five children--knew she wanted out of the confines of her life on the family farm in North Dakota. Yet, returning home after years away for her father’s funeral, Marquart finds herself discovering a newfound respect for her father and her connection to the land she was so desperate to escape. Chronicling her rebellious adolescent life on the farm and subsequent exodus, Marquart’s wry understated memoir will resonate with anyone who has spread their wings but still calls the Midwest “home.”
|
Tag(s): romance, regional, recommendations, North Dakota, nonfiction, mystery, Minnesota, memoir, historical fiction, First Nations, fiction, coming-of-age, cold case
Posted to Campbell Unclassified on May 21, 2021 at 1:38 PM by Genesis Gaule
After over a year of social distancing and quarantining, everyone's itching for a cure to our cabin fever. While some may rush out to book the soonest plane ticket and hotel, for many this may not be possible or desirable. Luckily, our region is home to a beautiful and diverse selection of flora, fauna, bodies of water, parks and trails to explore and admire. Becoming familiar with our environment not only can improve our physical and mental health, but remind us how important it is to take care of our earth!
Hiking our local parks and trails can be a nice change in routine that makes even the most familiar cities feel like a new adventure! Hiking Minnesota by John Pukite is a reference book that provides useful hiking tips for both beginner and expert hikers. Detailing information on ecology, geology, and state history, you’ll have a great start to planning your next adventure.
Are you tired of choosing between burgers or pizza for dinner? The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman allows you to explore the flavors this region has to offer. Eating out of season produce is not only more expensive and less flavorful, but very damaging to the environment! Locally sourced, seasonal, "clean" ingredients and nose-to-tail cooking are nothing new to Sean Sherman, the Oglala Lakota chef and founder of The Sioux Chef. In his first cookbook, Sherman shares his approach to creating boldly-seasoned foods that are vibrant, healthful, at once elegant and easy.
Interested in not only being able to identify wild plants, but utilizing them in your everyday life? Herbalist Lisa Rose’s guide to Midwest Medicinal Plants is fascinating and will inspire you to see the world in a different way.
If you prefer to keep the outdoors nearby, we offer a wide variety of gardening books depending on your limitations and needs! Gardens are both a fulfilling hobby, and an educational project for all ages.
The East Grand Forks Campbell Library also provides plenty of opportunities for exploration! Whether it’s diving into a new book series or joining us in new virtual and in-person programs, the library is a great resource for any adventure you go on!
Tag(s): Vanesa Gomez, sports and recreation, regional, recommendation, nonfiction, Minnesota, hiking, gardening, First Nations, ecology, cooking, article
Posted to Campbell Unclassified on February 5, 2021 at 12:56 PM by Genesis Gaule
I may not be a foodie, but I’m definitely an eater. In honor of our Winter Cooking Challenge (and because I happen to particularly enjoy a book that features descriptions of mouthwatering food), here are some titles from our collection that will make your stomach rumble.
Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
Tita has a gift for food. Her cooking is divine, so finely prepared that a single bite moves the eater to great emotion. Though Tita has fallen in love, tradition dictates that the youngest daughter, Tita, remain at home to take care of her mother. To add insult to injury, Tita’s mother arranges for Tita’s older sister to marry the man Tita loves AND asks Tita to make the wedding cake. The bitter tears Tita weeps as she whips the cake batter give the wedding guests a remarkable reaction, proving that there’s more to Tita’s gift than meets the eye.
Each chapter is prefaced by one of Tita’s hand created recipes.
|
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
While Crazy Rich Asians focuses more on the topsy turvy relationship of Rachel Chu and secret billionaire Nicholas Young than cooking, it has some mouth-watering descriptions of food:
“As Rachel tasked the char kuay teow, her eyes widened in delight at the rice noodles flash-fried with seafood, egg, and bean sprouts in a dark soy sauce….Then it was time for the satay. Rachel bit into the succulent grilled chicken, savoring its smoky sweetness carefully.”
YUM.
|
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Kitchens of the Great Midwest is bursting with food. The opening scene details the preparation of lutefisk, and then moves on to braised pork shoulder, chocolate habaneros, heirloom tomatoes and more. There are recipes peppered throughout the book too – Kraft caramel bars and chile oil being two examples. As this is set mainly in Minnesota, reading it is a nostalgic trip for your tastebuds.
The book follows Eva Thorvald, daughter of a Midwestern chef, blessed with a once-in-a-generation palate, as she becomes the mysterious chef behind the most sought-after dinner reservation in the country.
|
Rutabaga, the Adventure Chef by Eric Colossal
While Rutabaga is firmly in the genre of fantasy, it doesn’t make its recipes any less appealing.
Rutabaga, having grown bored of the standard food offerings available in his home town, travels the land searching for strange and magical ingredients to add to his cookbook. Rutabaga’s mouth-watering creations include a Perfect Pep Potion, Stuffed Koraknis Spinwheels with Sliced Pyka’s Palm, and a recipe especially created for those of us who don’t have access to magical ingredients: Chocolate-Dipped Dragon Claws. (The claws are bananas, guys).
|
Tag(s): Singapore, romance, recommendations, Minnesota, Mexico, junior graphic novel, humor, food, fiction, fantasy, cooking, Andrea Lorenz