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Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where host Emily Bright checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. Listen to Ask a Bookseller to find your next favorite book.

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Big Books and Bold Ideas is a weekly series hosted by Kerri Miller and produced by Kelly Gordon every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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.

Minneapolis writer chronicles her eating disorder
Nicole Johns was diagnosed as having EDNOS, or an Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. She has now written a book about her experience in the hope she can help others.
A story of hope amid despair
A new novel by Mayo Clinic doctor and obesity researcher James Levine tells the story of a young Indian girl forced into a life of prostitution. Dr. Levine says the novel sprang from a visit to the slums of Mumbai and encounter there that haunts him to this day.
Best-selling author and former Twin Cities TV producer Julie Kramer got the inspiration for her latest novel from a classified ad. It said: "Wedding Dress, never worn."
David Rhodes's long road back
Novelist David Rhodes released three highly acclaimed novels when he was in his 20s, and then was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident. He joins Midmorning to discuss his first novel in more than 30 years, and the long road back to writing.
Novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon creates a shifting Gothic world
Best-selling novelist Carlos Ruiz Zafon says he set out to recreate the storytelling of the great Victorian writers while including modern sensibilities.
A spy novelist's romantic world
Romance. Espionage. Parisian cafes and back alleys in Berlin. These are the elements that make the novels of Alan Furst among the best in the spy genre. He joins Midmorning to discuss his latest novel, and his fascination with World War II-era Europe.
Author bases novel on grandmother's life in 1907 Winona
Jane Kirkpatrick had a unique resource writing her latest historical novel: photographs her grandmother took a century ago around Winona.
Andre Dubus III explores the days before Sept. 11 in new novel
Best-selling novelist Andre Dubus III says his new book, set in a strip club in the days before the Sept. 11 attacks, was inspired by an image of a pile of cash on a bedroom bureau.
Jane Hamilton's take on the modern romance novel
Author Jane Hamilton is best known for books that depict tragedy and human frailty. She departs from that formula in her new novel, "Laura Rider's Masterpiece," a dark comedy about a bored wife with literary aspirations and her attempts to create art from life.
Heather McElhatton takes a swipe at chick lit
Twin Cities author Heather McElhatton will tell you she knows a thing or two about dating. Her second novel is all about the dangers of dating -- and of having your dreams come true.