Minnesota Books: The Best Books Set in the Land of 10,000 Lakes

Book Summary

Joe is a college student who needs to interview a stranger and write a biography for his English class. With the deadline approaching, he visits a local nursing home to find a willing participant. But he doesn’t know this decision will change his life forever.

Nursing home resident Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran–and a convicted murderer. He was in prison until he was medically paroled to spend his last dying months at the home. As Joe writes about Carl’s time in Vietnam, he can’t reconcile the heroism during the war with the heinous crime Carl was convicted of. Along with his neighbor Lila, Joe tries to dig deeper into the crime and conviction to settle the truth of what really happened.

Book Summary

Long before spring meant placing orders for seeds through gardening catalogs, the Dakhótas relied on their strong seed-saving traditions for survival. While this book will teach you about that seed-saving heritage, it also covers so much more.

Rosalie Iron Wing grew up learning about plants and her ancestry as a Dakhóta from her father. However, when he goes missing, she is sent to live with a foster family. Decades later, Rosalie is now both a mother and the widow of a farmer. She still takes solace in their land, although it has been threatened by both nature and man.

When Rosalie returns to her birthplace to learn more about her family history, she learns about the trauma of boarding schools, the war between the Dakhótas and the government, and the cache of seeds that survived through generations.

Book Summary

Every woman Justin goes on a date with seems to find their soulmate right after breaking up with him. It’s his curse, and now, thanks to a Reddit thread, EVERYONE knows.

However, his viral embarrassment may have a silver lining. Emma has the same problem and has sent him a message. The solution is obvious. They’ll date each other, break up, and then destiny will bring them each their own soulmates.

Traveling nurse Emma finds a job in Minnesota and rents a cute cottage on Lake Minnetonka for her summer fling with Justin. But when Emma’s toxic mother shows up and Justin has to assume guardianship of his three siblings, they’re suddenly navigating a lot more than they expected. Will these challenges quickly rip them apart, or does fate have other plans?

Book Summary

In 1924, when Cecily was only 4, her mother reluctantly left her at an orphanage and promised to return when she had money to support her. However, three years later, her mother hasn’t returned, and Cecily is “adopted” by a traveling circus. She’s assigned to be the “little sister” of a glamourous bareback rider and believes she’s found the family she has always dreamed of. By the time Cecily is a teenager, she’s seen the problems in her traveling world. When she falls in love with a roustabout named Lucky, her life changes again in a dangerous way.

In 2015, Cecily is 94 and has a quiet Minnesota life with her daughter, granddaughter, and great-grandson. When her great-grandson has a project for school, the family takes DNA tests, and the results reveal a tragic story Cecily has kept secret for decades. Four generations are forced to reevaluate what “family” really means.

Book Summary

Sisters Edith and Helen are opposites in many ways. Older sister Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, while the younger Helen is as rigid as a steel keg. Their family is torn apart when their father leaves his entire estate to Helen.

Edith is an excellent pie baker, but she struggles to make a living. She always wonders how her life might have been different if she had received a portion of the family farm money.

With her inheritance, younger sister Helen builds one of the most successful light breweries in the country. But when Helen finds herself in need of help, she realizes she might find it close to home, if it’s not too late.

Edith’s granddaughter, Diana, grows up knowing that the real world requires a tougher constitution than her grandmother possesses. If she earns a shot at learning the IPA business from the ground up – it could change their fortunes forever. And maybe even reunite her splintered family.

Book Summary

Set on beautiful Lake Superior, this book explores a family’s history and deep connection to a lighthouse. Elizabeth lives in a senior home and has a sharp mind, but has lost her sight. She fills the void with music and memories, which spring to life when her late father’s journals are found in the ruins of an old shipwreck.

Morgan is a troubled teen assigned to community service at Elizabeth’s home. With her help, Elizabeth reads through her father’s journal, with each entry taking Morgan and Elizabeth back in time 70 years. He was the lighthouse keeper on isolated Porphyry Island. As the unlikely duo reads, they realize their fates are connected to the remote island and each other in unexpected ways.

Book Summary

On Memorial Day in 1958, the residents of Jewel, Minnesota, are shocked to discover the dead body of the town’s most powerful citizen, wealthy landowner Jimmy Quinn. Sheriff Brody Dern must investigate, but he’s still carrying the physical and emotional scars of his military service, which complicate his career.

The townspeople have a prime suspect before Dern even has the autopsy report. Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII veteran, has recently come back to town with a Japanese wife. But does the couple’s return have anything to do with this case?

The River We Remember explores midcentury life in America and highlights how countless small towns were affected by the WWII scars that remained well after the last shots were fired.

Book Summary

Charlie and her daughter Eva were not seeking social media fame, but found it when a photo of Eva went viral. Then, they spent two years on the road in a vintage Airstream, documenting their travels. Now, Eva is thrilled to be stationed in a small Minnesota town where she can finish high school and apply to college like a normal teenager. However, Charlie misses life on the road.

Unfortunately, Eva disappears less than a week before her graduation. Charlie is the primary suspect with both the duo’s online fans and the FBI. As the truth about their real-life relationship comes to light, Charlie must confront how much she really knows about her daughter in an effort to clear her own name.

Book Summary

During the 80 years leading up to the Great Depression, so-called Orphan Trains transported children from cities on the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest. The fates of the children on board – whether they would end up with loving families or end up with a childhood of hard labor – were determined by pure luck.

Vivian – now 91 – was one of those children, and the memories of her childhood are now tucked inside trunks in her attic. Eighteen-year-old Molly is aging out of the foster care system and is assigned community service helping the elderly Vivian clean out her home. She will soon learn that the two have much more in common than she ever expected.

Book Summary

In 1953, a new “emancipation” bill was being considered in the US Congress. However, the Chippewa Council knows that the bill isn’t about freedom; it’s a threat to their rights and land. Thomas is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant near the reservation and serves as a Council member.

Valedictorian Patrice also works at the plant, using all her money to support her mother and brother. Her older sister, Vera, left the reservation to live in Minneapolis, but the family hasn’t heard from her in months. Eventually, she travels to Minnesota, trying to track down Vera.

The lives of Thomas and Patrice interact with many other memorable characters on and off the reservation as they encounter the best and worst of human nature.

Book Summary

This novel follows the friendship of five women from the 1960s through the 21st century. They began as neighbors, then formed a book club, but over time it becomes a lifeline for each of them as they see each other through all the seasons of life. From the stay-at-home motherhood days to new careers, second chances, grandchildren, and all that life throws at them. Laughter is the glue that holds them together, even when they are mending broken hearts or shattered dreams.

Book Summary

Indian Country has a long, devastating history of missing Native women. Shortly after Loretta surrenders her 3 and 4-year-old daughters, Azure and Rain, she disappears.

Following a series of foster placements, both good and bad, the girls return to their extended Mozhay family. Though their lives are filled with loss (and love), these two Ojibwe girls become women who must reconcile their past.

Book Summary

This unique novel follows approximately 30 years in the life of Eva Thorvald and covers her journey to become the star chef behind a legendary and secretive pop-up supper club. Rather than seeing Eva’s life through her own eyes, however, everything we know about Eva is told to us through the filter of another character. 

In a series of eight short stories that will ultimately become intertwined, we see Eva evolve. The stories are told by a wide variety of people, from her father to her first boyfriend, and even a jealous rival, who each introduce their own perspectives and prejudice to Eva’s life story. 

Additionally, each of the stories also revolves around a single dish of food, making Kitchens of the Great Midwest a great book that spans a lifetime, but also an excellent foodie novel!

Book Summary

Mia stops at a bar one night to meet up with her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn’t show up, she leaves with a charmingly mysterious stranger named Colin, which is the worst mistake of her life.

Colin is supposed to deliver Mia to his “employers,” but instead he hides her away in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota. Her mother and a local detective are determined to find them at any cost.

Book Summary

Amateur sleuth Hannah Swensen owns The Cookie Jar bakery in Lake Eden, Minnesota. In between baking, she spends her time dodging her mom’s attempts to find her a husband.

In the first book, her milk delivery man, Ron, is found behind her bakery, with her chocolate chip cookies scattered around his body. Terrified that the situation will give her shop a bad reputation, she sets out to find the killer.

Fans of this long-running series should also check out the companion cookbook – Joanne Fluke’s Lake Eden Cookbook: Hannah Swensen’s Recipes from the Cookie Jar.

Book Summary

Told from the perspective of Lark, this book gives an all too common look at a family struggling through the Great Depression in a small Minnesota town. She and her mother have big dreams of purchasing of home of their own. Her mom is dedicated to saving for the house they picked out of a catalog, called the Cape Ann. However, her father is harsh with his words and treatment of Lark and he has a gambling problem that threatens every penny her mother has saved. As Lark prepares for her first holy communion, she becomes more aware of those around her, wondering who is really sinning and how people became who they are now.

This book is heavily character-driven as you see Lark’s relationships with and observations of others around her.