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Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is an annual event series featuring notable authors in conversation about their new books. Presented by MPR News and The Minnesota Star Tribune. 

Novelist Max Porter's new tale 'Lanny' lets readers find their own meaning
Porter will read from his new book Monday in Minneapolis, in conversation with Graywolf publisher Fiona McCrae. He describes the small, Minnesota-based press as a mighty, mighty force.
'There's Something About Sweetie' -- something irrepressibly joyous
Sandhya Menon's followup to her hit young adult novel "When Dimple Met Rishi" follows a young woman with a big voice, a big personality -- and to her family's dismay (though not her own), a big body.
Little Free Library movement celebrates 10th anniversary
From humble beginnings in Hudson, Wis., the Little Free Library movement now reaches around the world, and it's celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend.
From the gridiron to multigrid algorithms on 'Mind and Matter'
MIT mathematician and former Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel has a new memoir out about how he combined his two very different talents into a successful and varied career.
'Red, White & Royal Blue' reigns as must-read romance
Casey McQuiston's tale of a British prince who falls for the son of the U.S. president (who's a woman, by the way) is a snappy, banter-packed rom-com that's also empowering and uplifting.
Herman Wouk, 'The Jackie Robinson of Jewish-American fiction,' dies at 103
Wouk was famous for writing "The Winds of War," "Marjorie Morningstar" and "The Caine Mutiny," which won a Pulitzer Prize. He also helped popularize themes that writers like Philip Roth later tackled.
Where myth, magical realism and women's bodies mix
"The stories are really inventive, they're often horrifying, beautifully lyrical, just different than anything I've read in a really long time," says bookseller Jen Murvin.
Friendship keeps you human in 'Rules for Visiting'
Jessica Francis Kane's new novel follows a prickly, 40-something gardener who -- inspired by the friendless fate of Beowulf's monstrous Grendel -- decides to reconnect with four of her oldest friends.
'Middlegame' makes mathematical magic
Seanan McGuire's new standalone novel stars twins: Roger is good at words and Dodger is good at math -- and both of them find themselves caught up in a shadowy alchemical plan for world domination.