Ask a bookseller

In 'The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley,' a father reveals his secrets to his daughter, one scar at a time.

English professor Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasn't seen his mother since he was a child. Then one day, he gets a call: She's been arrested in a political protest, and she needs a character witness.

"I think it's so disarming because it's so simple, and yet I kept re-reading 'Outline.' I kept going back to it and being spellbound by how brilliant it is," said bookseller Richard DeWyngaert.

Bookseller Aja Martin is excited about a new collection that covers the history of female comic book characters. Ever heard of the Man-Huntin' Minnie of Delta Pu?

Bookseller Josie Danz recommends a sweeping family saga that spans nearly the entire 20th century, following four generations through colonial rule, war and dislocation.

Angela Maria Spring picked up Daisy Hernandez's memoir thinking she would just read the first few chapters. By the time she finished, she was crying on the phone to her mother.

Cynthia Justus owns the westernmost bookstore in the entire United States, in Kauai, Hawaii. There's one book she's been recommending to readers for almost a decade.

Bookstore owner Akbar Watson rarely rereads books, but the news recently has him turning to an older favorite.

Bookstore owner Jonathan Sanchez recommends "The Takedown," by Corrie Wang. It's set in a near-future, tech-obsessed Brooklyn, where privacy is a thing of the past.

Bookstore owner Lisa Sharp doesn't usually pick up short story collections; she prefers a full-length novel. But Carys Davies's stories broke that streak.