Wadena County Historical Society

Maren Cooper

“Finding Grace”

“Emotionally charged and written exceptionally well, author Maren Cooper has created a perfect atmosphere and a solid plot. This novel is recommended to anyone who loves emotionally charged stories with substance!” –Readers’ Favorite, 5-star review

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Maren Cooper

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Ryan Rodgers

“Winter’s Children: A Celebration of Nordic Skiing”

“Winter’s Children: A Celebration of Nordic Skiing”, is a book that captures the essence of cross-country skiing in the Midwest, from its earliest days of making wooden skis to the snowmaking loops and large races of today.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Ryan Rodgers

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Margaret Shaw Johnson

“The Haunting of Potter’s Fields”

These are a series of stories about some of the early settlers of Winona, Minnesota. They worked hard to achieve the American Dream but the obstacles they faced proved to be too much. They failed, dying poor and often alone, ending up buried in Potter’s Fields.

Margaret Shaw Johnson was a trial court judge in Minnesota’s Third Judicial District for twenty-one years. Her experience gives her a unique understanding of the hardships and struggles of ordinary people, and her heartfelt compassion–and realization that fate can undo any of us—shows in her storytelling.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Margaret Shaw Johnson

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Sigrid Undset

Olav Audunsson

Laura Michelle Diener will present this book, an epic story of Medieval Norway written by Nobel-prizewinning author, Sigrid Undset. In this new translation by Tiina Nunnally, the characters of the fjords and villages of medieval Norway come to life. Read it, and spend time in the thirteenth century as it really was.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Sigrid Undset

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Freya Manfred

Loon in Late November Water

Poet, Freya Manfred, has published nine books of poetry including “Loon in Late November Water.” Her work has appeared in hundreds of reviews and magazines and over 40 anthologies. Her memoir about her father, Frederick Manfred, was nominated for a Minnesota Book Award.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Freya Manfred

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Julie Jo Larson

100 Things to Do in Minnesota Northwoods Before you Die

Local author Julie Jo Larson’s own wanderlust led her to share her penchant for her region with the world. She lives in rural Brainerd with her husband, family pets, and a flock of chickens. When not advising college students, Julie Jo can be found on the trail with a walking stick in hand and worn mukluks on her feet.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Julie Jo Larson

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Gary Goodman

The Last Bookseller: A Life in the Rare Book Trade

When Gary Goodman wandered into a run-down, used book shop that was going out of business in East St. Paul in 1982, he had no idea the visit would change his life. He walked in as a psychiatric counselor and walked out as the store’s new owner. In this book, Goodman describes his sometimes desperate, sometimes hilarious career as a used and rare book dealer in Minnesota.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Gary Goodman

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Amy C. Sullivan

Opoid Reckoning: Love, Loss and Redemption in the Rehab State

Minnesota’s alcohol and drug rehabilitation programs have long been held up as the gold-standard. But when it comes to addressing the opioid crisis, Dr. Sullivan says that the “Minnesota Model” has fallen short, and the sluggish shift to a more effective one has cost our society dearly.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Amy C. Sullivan

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Mark Vinz

From childhood to elegies and curmudgeonly rants, the poems in PERMANENT RECORD seek to explore what has remained memorable in Mark Vinz’s life. Poet, teacher, and publisher Mark Vinz is the author many collections of poetry including LONG DISTANCE and THE WORK IS ALL In 2014, he was honored with the Kay Sexton Award. He lives Moorhead, Minnesota.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Mark Vinz

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R. J. Kern

The Unchosen Ones

“The Unchosen Ones” is a new book by award-winning Minneapolis-based photographer R.J. Kern that features portraits of Minnesota 4-H members posing with their farm animals. Each one spent a year raising an animal, which they then entered into a 4-H competition. Although none succeeded in winning an award, despite the obvious care they had given to their animals, the photographs reveal the self-directed dedication of America’s future farmers.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – R. J. Kern

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Barbara Wojcik and Jim Wojcik

Bud’s Jacket: An American Flyer Evades The Nazis In Occupied France

During World War II, James “Bud” Wilschke and his fellow airman S. Sgt. Robert Neil, found themselves on a harrowing, desperate odyssey of escape and evasion through Nazi-occupied Europe. Including extensive research and visits to the original sites, “Bud’s Jacket” is a true tale of adventure, courage and determination.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Barbara Wojcik and Jim Wojcik

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Carolyn Porter

Marcel’s Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man’s Fate

In early 1943, Marcel Heuzé was one of hundreds of thousands of ordinary French citizens deported to Germany. As German men vacated jobs in factories, farms and mines to fight on the eastern and western fronts, thousands of positions needed to be filled. And those positions were filled by men like Marcel.

Graphic Designer Carolyn Porter discovered Marcel’s Letters while looking for historic fonts. What she discovered was his story.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Carolyn Porter

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M. E. Fuller

“Blood on the Bridal Wreath” is the first of a 4-book series called Filthy Dirty Garden Gloves. From its great title to its delicious ending, this delightfully clever cozy mystery is a remarkable romp with a devoted cat owner and expert gardener who seems to attract both danger and devotion.

M. E. Fuller is a fiscal year 2021 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – M. E. Fuller

To purchase books, contact the Wadena County Historical Society at 603wchs@arvig.net or call 218-631-9079.

Mike Lein

Mike Lein is known across the north country for his many published stories of cabin life with dogs, boats, relatives, and friends. His award winning books include “Firewood Happens”, “Down at the Dock”, and “The Crooked Lake Chronicles”. “Cabin Fever” continues this series with more lightly embellished tales of the things that happen, the people you meet, and the struggles with Mother Nature that occur when you step out and enjoy the simple life in the Great Outdoors.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Mike Lein

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Geoff Herbach

Geoff Herbach is the author of the award winning Stupid Fast YA series as well as Fat Boy vs the Cheerleaders. His books have been given the 2011 Cybils Award for best YA novel, the Minnesota Book Award, selected for the Junior Library Guild, and listed among the year’s best by the American Library Association. When he’s not writing books, he teaches writing at Minnesota State, Mankato. His most recent book is “Cracking the Bell”.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Geoff Herbach

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Traci Lambrecht

Traci Lambrecht is the author of the psychological thriller, “Deep into the Dark”. She was part of a mother-daughter writing duo under the pseudonym PJ Tracy. They were winners of the Minnesota Book Awards and produced books that were national and international best sellers.

 

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Traci Lambrecht

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Ross Gay

Ross Gay is a nationally known poet and essayist whose roots include family in Wadena County. His new poem, “Be Holding”, was released in September 2020 from the University of Pittsburgh Press. His collection of essays, “The Book of Delights”, was released by Algonquin Books in 2019.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Ross Gay

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Naomi Kritzer

Naomi Kritzer’s newest book, Chaos on CatNet, is a young adult novel featuring the AI character from “Cat Pictures Please” and a group of teenagers who have found friendship and community online, never realizing that one of their online friends is actually an artificial intelligence.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Naomi Krtizer

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Carrie Mesrobian

Carrie Mesrobian is the acclaimed author of “Sex & Violence” and “Cut Both Ways”, two books that set fire to the unfair stereotypes and contradictions that persist even today. Her most recent book, “The Whitsun Daughters”, was named as a 2021 Minnesota Book Awards finalist in the Young People’s Literature category.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Carrie Mesrobian

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Julie Jo Severson

Julie Jo Severson is a versatile journalist, editor, and author of the brand new local guidebook “Secret Twin Cities: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure”. She is based in the Twin Cities and specializes in feature writing for local magazines, nonprofits, and small businesses. She is also available to work with individuals to record, transcribe, and shape their life stories and family heritage information into written legacies for future generations.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Julie Jo Severson

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David LaRochelle

David LaRochelle considers himself a lucky man to get to make his living writing and illustrating books for young people. Lately, he’s been working on a beginning reader series illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka. Coming in May 2021, “How to Apologize”, a new picture book for children.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – David LaRochelle

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Mary Logue

Mary Logue wrote her first mystery when she was in sixth grade—it was about a mysterious trail around a pond. She went on to write about mysterious trails around Lake Pepin in her Claire Watkins mystery series. Mary Logue has now created a striking new heroine: a young Irish immigrant caught up in a deadly plot in nineteenth-century Deadwood, South Dakota in her recent book, “The Streel”.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Mary Logue

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Peter Geye

Peter Geye is the author of the recently released novel, “Northernmost”. Geye is also the author of the award winning novels, “Safe from the Sea”, “The Lighthouse Road”, and “Wintering”, winner of the Minnesota Book Award. He currently teaches the year-long Novel Writing Project at the Loft Literary Center. Born and raised in Minneapolis, he continues to live there with his family.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Peter Geye

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Debra Eckerman Pitton

Debra Eckerman Pitton is the author of the true life adventure book, “No One Left Behind: An unexpected educational adventure at Machu Picchu”. In 2010, she led a group of healthcare students to Peru and Machu Picchu. When rain swelled the mountain rivers, flooding downstream villages, the group was trapped and struggled to remain together waiting to be evacuated. Debra Eckerman Pitton is department chair and professor of education at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peters, Minnesota and specializes in instructional methodology.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Debra Eckerman Pitton

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Bart Sutter

Poet, Bart Sutter enjoys working in a variety of genres. He has published poems, essays, and stories in dozens of magazines and produced nine books, the most recent of which is “Nordic Accordion: Poems in a Scandinavian Mood”. He has written for Minnesota Public Radio, has had four verse plays produced, and often performs as one-half of The Sutter Brothers, a poetry-and-music duo.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Bart Sutter

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Marcie Rendon

Marcie Rendon is the author of “Girl Gone Missing”, the second book in the award winning Cash Blackbear mystery series. Marcie Rendon is also the recipient of the McKnight Foundation 2020 Distinguished Artist Award, an award created to honor a Minnesota artist who has made significant contributions to the state’s cultural life. Rendon, an enrolled member of the White Earth Nation, is a writer whose poems, plays, children’s books, and novels explore the resilience and brilliance of Native peoples.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Marcie Renden

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Gretchen Anthony

Gretchen Anthony is the author of “Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners” which she premiered on BookEnds last year. In her poignant, humorous new novel, “The Kids Are Gonna Ask”, twin siblings became a national phenomenon when they launch a podcast to find the biological father they never knew. After the Zoom meeting, a recording of this program will be available on the website.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Gretchen Anthony

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J Ryan Stradal

J. Ryan Stradal is the author of “The Lager Queen of Minnesota", a novel about family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate, and the secrets of making a world-class beer.

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – J. Ryan Stradal

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Alex Messenger

“The Twenty-Ninth Day” Recorded July 11, 2020

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Alex Messenger

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Ann Lewis

Ship Captain’s Daughter: Growing up on the Great Lakes" Recorded June 13, 2020

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Ann Lewis

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Margi Preus

“Village of Scoundrels” Recorded May 9, 2020

To hear a recording of the Zoom meeting click here: BookEnds Online Edition – Margi Preus

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Allan Woodrow

“The Revenge of the Were-Penguin” Recorded March 14, 2020

BookEnds Online Edition launched in April with youth author and humorist, Allan Woodrow. Here he talks about his recent book, “The Curse of the Werepenguin”. This was recorded at the Wadena Museum and Bookstore on March 14, 2020.

Hear more about Allan Woodrow and his writing life. Allan Woodrow on Writing March 14, 2020