Shows / Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller
Looking for your next great read? Ask a bookseller! Join us to check in with independent bookstores across the U.S. to find out what books they’re excited about right now. One book, two minutes, every week. From the long-running series on MPR News, hosted by Emily Bright. Whether you read to escape, feel connected, seek self-improvement, or just discover something new, there is a book here for you.
Episodes
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘There Are Rivers in the Sky’ by Elif Shafak
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Black Liturgies’ by Cole Arthur Riley
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘We Will Be Jaguars’ by Nemonte Nenquimo
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Under the Whispering Door’ by TJ Klune
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 Booksellers went…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dream Count’ by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Dictionary of the Undoing’ by John Freeman
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Notes from the Porch: Tiny True Stories to Make You Feel Better About the World’
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Practice, The Horizon and the Chain’ by Sofia Samatar
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Blob: A Love Story’ by Maggie Su
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Black Woods, Blue Sky’ by Eowyn Ivey
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘A More Perfect Party‘ by Juanita Tolliver
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: 'The Serviceberry' by Robin Wall Kimmerer
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Wealth of Shadows’ by Graham Moore
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Blue Sisters’ by Coco Mellors
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees’ by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Let Us Descend’ by Jesmyn Ward
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Modern Poetry’ by Diane Seuss
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 Book Awards…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘No Two Persons’ by Erica Bauermeister
David Stippick of Lark & Owl Booksellers in Georgetown, Texas, recommends a novel they call “a love letter to readers.” It’s Erica Bauermeister’s “No Two…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘North Woods’ by Daniel Mason
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Just Us’ by Minnesota author Molly Beth Griffin
Holly Weinkauf of Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul recommends “Just Us.” It’s written by Twin Cities author Molly Beth Griffin and illustrated by Anait…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Smothermoss’ by debut author Alisa Alering
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Colored Television’ by Danzy Senna
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Scrap’ by Calla Henkel
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 Books in…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Spellshop’ by Sarah Beth Durst
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: 'Penance' by Eliza Clark
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Everything We Never Had’ by Randy Ribay
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Attack of the Black Rectangles’ by Amy Sarig King
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Tree. Table. Book.‘ by Lois Lowry
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Minnesota booksellers talk recommendations, BookTok and how Gen Z is saving bookstores
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 booksellers…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ’Dahlia’s Make a Difference Day’ by Jackie Brown
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bitch: On the Female of the Species’ by Lucy Cooke
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Wedding People’ by Alison Espach
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘For the Night’ by Rae Lyse
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Sweet Blue Distance’ and ‘The Frozen River’
Call the midwife: Jolie Hughes of Morgan Hill Bookstore in New London, N.H., recommends two recent historical fiction books that both feature midwives — one…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Women of Good Fortune’ by Sophie Wan
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Hula’ by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Star Bringer’ by Tracy Wolff and Nina Croft
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘All the Colors of the Dark’ by Chris Whitaker
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘We Mostly Come Out at Night’ edited by Rob Costello
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Ministry of Time’ by Kaliane Bradley
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 Franklin, Ind…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Pest’ by Michael Cisco
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 a big fan…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Aednan: An Epic’ by Linnea Axelsson
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 right now…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea’ by Rebecca Thorne
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 right now.If…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Devil’s Element’ by Dan Egan
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Martyr!’
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Honey’ by Victor Lodato
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 right…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Art and Fear’
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 in…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Three Little Tardigrades: A Slightly Scientific Fairy Tale’
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 any pig…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension’
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 Year: On Basketball…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask A Bookseller: ‘The Bullet Swallower’
Kara Thom of Excelsior Bay Books in Excelsior recommends a multi-generational novel, “The Bullet Swallower” by Elizabeth Gonzalez James. It’s a classic western…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Is God Is’
How often do you settle down to read a play? Blake Worthey of Two Friends Bookstore in Bentonville, Ark., recommends the genre. Specifically, he suggests…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Violin Conspiracy’
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 featured…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Yours Truly’
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 Bookstore in…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask A Bookseller: ‘The September House’
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 primarily…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Black Queen’
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 Jumata…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: 'The Eyes and the Impossible'
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 Zandbroz…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Boys in the Boat’
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 nonfiction book by the…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Best Barbarian’
Ready for some poetry? Blake Worthey of Two Friends Bookstore in Bentonville, Ark., raves about Roger Reeves’ poetry collection “Best Barbarian.” The…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: 'The Half-White Album'
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., recommends “The…
- Ask a Bookseller
Ask a Bookseller: 'All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days'
When Julie Buckles of Honest Dog Books in Bayfield, Wis., encountered Rebecca Donner’s nonfiction book, “All The Frequent Troubles of our Days,” Buckles knew…