Ask a bookseller

Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment.

Ask a Bookseller: Crime-solving, ghost-hunting pet capers 
This week’s recommendation for kid readers has a “Secret Life of Pets” vibe. Angela Whited of Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul recommends the novel “The Great Ghost Hoax” by Emily Ecton, with spot illustrations by David Mottram.
Ask a Bookseller: A picture book for when it’s hard to get the words out
All September, Ask a Bookseller will be featuring recommendations for kids and teens. First up: Harriett Logan of Loganberry Books in Cleveland, Ohio, recommended the picture book “I Talk Like a River,” with an inventive metaphor that reframes stuttering.
Ask a Bookseller re-sings the tales of Ovid from the women’s points of view
Autumn Siders of The Country Bookseller in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, recommends a re-telling of Ovid’s collection of ancient myths “Metamorphoses,” told by the tales’ female characters.
Ask a Bookseller: 'Hola Papi' offers comical memoir in essays
Katharine Otis of House of Books in Kent, Conn., recommends the comical memoir-in-essays “Hola Papi: How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons” by John Paul Brammer.
Ask a Bookseller: 'Skunk and Badger'
Bookseller Linda Crowder recommends the kids’ chapter book “Skunk and Badger,” written by Amy Timberlake and illustrated by Jon Klassen. "This book will be a classic someday," predicts Crowder.
Ask a Bookseller: A readable book on economic theory
Richard Malinchoc-DeVoe of Fair Trade Books in Redwing, Minn., has a recommendation for nonfiction readers looking to learn something new this summer. He suggests "The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy" by economist Stephanie Kelton.
Ask a Bookseller: 'The House in the Cerulean Sea' is a feel-good read
Jolie Hughes of Morgan Hill Bookstore in New London, N.H. has a recommendation for people who want a summer read that leaves them feeling good. She points them toward TJ Klune's novel "The House in the Cerulean Sea."
Ask a Bookseller: 'The Netanyahus'
Hal Hlavinka of Community Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., says he's been telling everyone about a new novel by Joshua Cohen, out June 22: "The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family."
Lauren Nopenz Fairley has seen a surging interest in romance novels during the pandemic at her bookstore, The Curious Iguana, in Frederick, Md. She said her whole staff fell in love with the queer romance novel, “Honey Girl,” by debut author Morgan Rogers.