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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.

A house that's not a home in 'Bright Lines'
Tanwi Nandini Islam's debut novel is an understated queer coming-of-age tale, set in a vividly-portrayed Brooklyn brownstone whose residents all ache for some kind of home they've never been to.
Music journalist chronicles the "wild obsessive hunt" for rare 78 rpm records
In "Do Not Sell At Any Price," Amanda Petrusich details the extreme measures collectors take in pursuit of rare 78s. "You can still find quite a few of them around at junk shops," she says.
Obama's summer reading list
The president has six books lined up for his summer vacation -- a mix of fiction and nonfiction.
Things left unspoken haunt hard-hitting 'Dragonfish'
There are a few confessional speeches in Vu Tran's noirish debut novel, but what people write is more important than what they say: Anguished notes, letters and secret diary all drive the action.
Novel highlights the shocks facing first-generation college students
Jennine Capó Crucet, author of 'Make Your Home Among Strangers,' was inspired by her experiences as the daughter of Cuban immigrants and the first person in her family to attend college.
'Hominids' is a deeply human collection of speculative fiction
Nalo Hopkinson's new collection mixes up her Afro-Caribbean influences with classic literature and historical fantasy. Critic Jason Heller says her stories dazzle with a hard-won sense of hope.
'Scream' meets Agatha Christie in 'A Dark, Dark Wood'
Author Ruth Ware's new thriller takes place at a bachelorette party in an isolated English country house. The book blends the creepy voyeurism of a Scream movie with the setting of a Christie novel.
'Little House on the Prairie' actress runs for Congress. Can she win?
"Little House on the Prairie" star Melissa Gilbert is running for a congressional seat in Michigan. She's the latest in a long line of celebrities with political aspirations.
A memoir in pizza: 'Slice Harvester'
Colin Atrophy Hagendorf decided to review a plain slice of pizza from every joint in Manhattan -- a project that evolved into a two-fisted memoir of his own life and struggles with substance abuse.