Ask a bookseller

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

Ask a Bookseller: 'Milk Fed,' a novel about self-discovery — and frozen yogurt
This week’s recommendation comes from Montpelier, Vt., where Claire Benedict is co-owner of Bear Pond Books. Benedict says she devoured the novel “Milk Fed” by Melissa Broder — an appropriate description for a novel that is about appetites and what sustains us — also, lots of frozen yogurt. 
Ask a Bookseller: 'Saint X' is not your typical thriller
Maya Aurichio of Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, Colo., recommends "Saint X" by Alexis Schaitkin. She called the novel a thoughtful twist on a “classic beautiful dead white girl thriller.” 
Ask a Bookseller: A northern Minn. author explores the aftermath of a shooting
Sally Wizik Wills of Beagle and Wolf Books and Bindery in Park Rapids, Minn., recommends a new book by a local author this week: Doug Mayfield’s “The Saint Patrick’s Day Hero.” The novel begins after a horrific mass shooting at a fictional college in Minnesota.
Ask a Bookseller: A kids' graphic novel series — with unicorns
Theresa Woodward of CatTale’s Books and Gifts in Brainerd, Minn., recommends “Phoebe and her Unicorn” graphic novel series, which she has been loving reading with her 6-year-old daughter, Phoebe.
Ask a Bookseller: A murder mystery set on the North Shore 
Lisa Deyo of Sweet Reads in Austin, Minnesota (across from the Spam Museum) recommended the murder mystery “The Devil’s Kettle” by fellow Austin-based writer J.J. Ollman. 
Ask a bookseller: 'The Magical Language of Others' gives a compassionate look at mother-daughter relationships
Amanda Toronto of Word Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y., says she can’t stop thinking about a memoir she read recently: “The Magical Language of Others” by poet and translator E.J. Koh. 
Ask a Bookseller: A master class on writing, reading — and life
Cat Bock of Parnassus Books in Nashville, Tenn., recommended a brand-new work of literary criticism by George Saunders with a tempting subtitle indeed: “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life."
Ask a Bookseller: 'Gods of the Upper Air'
The book explores the work of Franz Boaz, founder of cultural anthropology, and a circle of women scientists whose work 100 years ago helped inform our notions of identity today.
Ask a Bookseller: Let’s talk about money
Chuck Neal of Chapters Bookstore in Miami, Okla., recommended a nonfiction title on a ubiquitous topic this week: “Money: the True Story of a Made-up Thing,” by Jacob Goldstein of NPR’s Planet Money.
Ask a Bookseller: 'Fresh Water for Flowers'
The story follows the very likeable Violette Toussaint, caretaker of a cemetery, whose days are punctuated by cemetery visitors.