COFFEE TABLE BOOKS

ALONE WITH THE PAST: THE LIFE AND PHOTOGRAPHIC ART OF ROLAND W. REED

by Ernest Lawrence (Afton Press, $45)

This biography of Minnesotan Roland Reed, who spent his life photographing Indians, includes 400 historic images.

THE BIG WATER: LAKE MINNETONKA AND ITS PLACE IN MINNESOTA HISTORY

by Frederick L. Johnson with Thomas U. Tuttle (Deep Haven Books, $29.95)

A richly illustrated history of one of Twin Citians' favorite lakes.

FROM FIELDS TO FAIRWAYS

by Rick Shefchik (University of Minnesota Press, $39.95)

The history, the geography, the building, the playing -- everything you want to know about the golf courses of Minnesota. Lavishly illustrated.

LEGENDARY HOMES OF THE MINNEAPOLIS LAKES

by Karen Melvin and Bette Hammel (Minnesota Historical Society Press, $49.95)

For anyone who is addicted to HGTV shows about house remodeling. Gorgeous photos of those swanky Minneapolis homes that you have admired as you've walked the lakes.

LOST DULUTH

by Tony Dierckins and Maryanne C. Norton (Zenith City Press, $24)

A book to break your heart: Photos and stories of dozens of fabulous buildings now missing from the landscape of Duluth.

MINNESOTA RAILROADS: A PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY, 1940-2012

by Steve Glischinski. (University of Minnesota Press, $39.95)

A history of trains, train stations and train transportation, with historical photos that will make you nostalgic for the good old days of rail travel.

SPIRIT OF THE OJIBWE

by Sara Balbin, James Bailey and Thelma Nayquonabe (Holy Cow! Press, $28.95)

Portraits and short biographies of notable elders from Lac Courte Oreilles.

NONFICTION/MEMOIR

BECOMING WELLSTONE

by Paul David Wellstone Jr. (Hazelden, $14.95)

The son of the late senator looks back on growing up and being inspired by his father, and losing him in a tragic plane crash.

LETTERS FROM BERLIN

by Margarete Dos and Kerstin Lieff (Lyons Press, $24.95)

A memoir of a woman's life in World War II Germany, written with her Minnesota daughter.

MINNESOTA MAYHEM

by Ben Welter (The History Press, $19.99)

Oh, we had scandals and murders and accidents and crimes -- collected here from the pages of newspapers past.

MY MOTHER IS NOW EARTH

by Mark Anthony Rolo (Borealis Books, $24.95)

A powerful, lovely and sad memoir of growing up in northern Minnesota.

PARIS IN LOVE

by Mary Bly, writing as Eloisa James (Random House, $26)

After the death of her mother, Mary Bly moved with her family to Paris for a year, where they slipped neatly into Parisian life -- and where Bly looks back on memories of her mother, her aging father and her childhood in Minnesota.

REZ LIFE

by David Treuer (Atlantic Monthly Press, $26)

Beautifully written reportage on life, past and present, on Indian reservations.

THIRTY ROOMS TO HIDE IN

by Luke Longstreet Sullivan (University of Minnesota Press, $24.95)

The blackly humorous memoir of a young man who grew up in Rochester with his alcoholic, abusive father, a noted surgeon at the Mayo Clinic.

THE THINGS THAT ARE

by Amy Leach (Milkweed Editions, $18)

Beautiful, whimsical and wryly humorous essays on the natural world by a Whiting Award winner.

TURN HERE SWEET CORN

by Atina Diffley (University of Minnesota Press, $24.95)

The life -- and battles -- of a dedicated organic farmer near the Twin Cities. A wonderful read.

FICTION

BOARDED WINDOWS,

by Dylan Hicks. (Coffee House, $16)

The story of a con man and a know-it-all, set in all your favorite Minneapolis haunts.

CLARE, LOVING

by Emily Meier (Sky Spinner Press, $14.95)

A bittersweet love story about a secret a daughter discovers about her mother's past.

CUL DE SAC

by Scott Wrobel (Sententia Books, $14.95)

Short stories about Midwestern suburban men and their not necessarily fulfilling lives.

THE FALL OF ALICE K

by Jim Heynen (Milkweed Editions, $24)

The story of an Iowa farm girl and a young Hmong boy on the cusp of great change.

THE FOREVER MARRIAGE

by Ann Bauer (Overlook, $25.95)

An unhappy wife wishes her husband dead, but everything changes once he dies.

ILLUMINATIONS

by Mary Sharratt (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25)

The remarkable life of Hildegard von Bingen, imagined by a fine historical novelist.

THE LIGHTHOUSE ROAD

by Peter Geye (Unbridled Books, $24.95)

A literate, literary page-turner, set in the woods and wilderness along Lake Superior near Duluth.

THE MAYOR OF THE UNIVERSE

by Lorna Landvik (CreateSpace, $12.99)

A mild-mannered actuary finds that there's a whole big world out there -- way out there.

THE ROUND HOUSE

by Louise Erdrich (Harper, $27.99)

A page-turner about a boy, his mother and a terrible crime on a North Dakota reservation. Winner of the National Book Award.

LAURIE HERTZEL,

BOOKS EDITOR