Books

In 1961, a young Mary Ann Grossmann began working in the newsroom at what was then called the St. Paul Dispatch-Pioneer Press. After several years as editor of the “women’s department,” Grossmann went on to be named the books editor for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1983. She has since become one of the most highly regarded literary lights in the community, and a recipient of the Minnesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award and a Page One Award. Read more about By the Book

Chris Dinesen Rogers, a lake-area resident, recently published her book 101 Things to Do On Lake Minnetonka, which features the lake area’s abundant opportunities for adventure.

The book covers all seasons, including a gaggle of fun winter activities and unique historical facts. “I love how we Minnesotans embrace winter,” says Dinesen Rogers. “One of my favorite images of winter is the North American Pond Hockey Championship in Excelsior.” Read more about Books: Walking, Running, Hiking in a Winter Wonderland

If you’re a bookworm searching for a fun and informal book club, look no further than Books & Bars. Twice a month—once at The Happy Gnome in Saint Paul and once at Indeed Brewery in Minneapolis—book lovers gather for an engaging conversation about new fiction reads. Read more about Grab a Book and a Drink

Minnetonka resident Christine Conlin can now cross “publish a book” off her to-do list. Her children’s book Who Sees Your Scrunchy Face? was published in April.

The book’s main character, 7-year-old Jack, is learning that you can’t have everything you want—and sometimes his “scrunchy face” appears. “It’s really about getting kids to show their expressions, and it’s OK to have those expressions,” says Conlin. With reflective material on the covers, young readers can see what their own scrunchy and happy faces look like. Read more about Learning Expressions

Acupuncturist Warren King’s new book, Love Your Organs, Love Yourself, focuses on the body’s organs, and what to eat (and when) to nourish each organ properly.

“The symptoms the body has are not just problems to get rid of,” King says. “They’re actually our body’s intelligence telling us what’s out of balance.” Read more about Love Your Organs, Love Yourself

As a practicing psychologist for 20 years, Rachel Awes has heard many stories of adults struggling with self-acceptance. The author and self-proclaimed ”art playgroundist” was inspired to write her third book by a few aha moments as well as some themes from the human heart and what she believes it thirsts for. Read more about Awe-Inspiring

Girl in Pieces is the debut novel of Kathleen Glasgow, whose own 12-year residence in the Frogtown neighborhood of Saint Paul brings familiar locales to Twin Cities readers. The book’s main character, 17-year-old Charlie (Charlotte) Davis, is a cutter, engaging in a type of self-harm Glasgow defines, overall, as “the deliberate act of cutting, burning, poking or otherwise marring your skin as a way to cope with emotional turmoil.” Read more about Books: Girl in Pieces

Susanne Aspley published the third installment in her popular children’s bilingual book series, I Know How To, last October. The latest book, I Know How to Bonjour follows I Know How to Hola and I Know How to Ni Hao. Aspley says she started with Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and French because those are the most popular language-immersion choices in Twin Cities schools. “There are many reasons to want to study other languages, and when [kids] grow up, being bilingual will open many doors of opportunities for them,” Aspley says. Read more about Write On

Orono resident Chuck Bolton is president and CEO of The Bolton Group, an executive assessment and development firm. Bolton recently self-published The Reinvented Me: Five Steps to Happiness in a Crazy Busy World, aimed at helping people live happier lives through a method of self-reinvention. Read more about Happiness, Reinvented

This collection of phenomenal poetry is hailed as a major career retrospective. With new poetry along with his most famous work, 99 Poems: New & Selected by Dana Gioia (Graywolf Press, $24) is a tremendous example of the finest combinations of words. Gioia is the former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and is currently the poet laureate of California. In honor of National Poetry Month, go out to your local bookstore and find this book. It will certainly be worth the adventure. Read more about Close to 100