It’s dark at 5 p.m. now that we’re done with daylight saving, so it’s a good time to read two novels by Minnesotans that feature ghosts, one who won’t stop talking and one who is fading away. These are so worthy of your TBA pile.

(Book Fluent)

“The Butcher and the Liar”: by S.L. Woeppel (Books Fluent, $21.99)

Marina would often ask me why she had to die. She never expected me to have an answer. She just liked to talk. But I probably should have told her right away, right after it happened. It would have explained why it was me she was forced to stay with — another question she often asked… she still didn’t know I washed her blood from a cooler in the Missouri River. — from “The Butcher and the Liar”

S.L. Woeppel (Book Fluent)

Daisy Belton is 9 when she discovers her father, a butcher and serial killer, cutting up the body of his latest victim. He isn’t surprised to see Daisy and makes her his accomplice by “going fishing” to flush the woman’s remains into the river. Her name is Marina and her spirit will be with Daisy for years, a reminder that Daisy has kept her father’s secret and her part in the crime.

This genre-jumping, involving novel is part magical realism, part psychological thriller, part romance and part coming-of-age for a girl who has seen too much. Like her father, adult Daisy is both a butcher and a liar.

The story begins in 2015 when 35-year-old Daisy returns to her hometown of Hellene, Neb., to watch the last auction at a cattle market where she and her friend Caleb Garcia spent hours as kids sitting on the catwalk and listening to the auctioneer. The narrative moves between Daisy’s childhood and 2015 when she owns her own butcher shop in partnership with Miles, who is like a brother to her.

In the childhood chapters, Daisy has a cold relationship with her father after she learns his secrets, but she lets him show her how to be a butcher. Somehow, Woeppel makes these scenes almost lyrical as Daisy is shown how to use the knives and put on chainmail gloves so she doesn’t cut herself while stripping meat from the bones.

In the chapters of Daisy as an adult, she is still having conversations with the dead Marina, who is sometimes Daisy’s conscience, sometimes her adviser on relationships. Daisy’s efforts to find Marina’s family in Croatia are touching and successful.

A constant presence is Caleb, even after he and Daisy haven’t seen one another for years. He knows she has a secret about why she never is in a committed relationship but doesn’t press for details.

Although this bare outline of the novel seems grim, it is laced with humor and a tenderness for the characters, who show us how guilt and childhood trauma can shape an adult’s life.

Woeppel grew up in Nebraska a few blocks from a cattle market. Her debut novel “Flipping the Birdie,” a superhero romance, won the $5,000 BookLife fiction prize presented by BookLife and Publishers Weekly.

“The Butcher and the Liar” is an independently published novel (which we used to call self-published), and it shows how far this form of publishing has come in the past few decades. It is getting great reviews from publications such as Kirkus Reviews, which called it “haunting and inventive.”

“Come Back, I Love You (A Ghost Story)”: by Kathleen Novak (Regal House Publishing, $19.95)

Minnesota author Kathleen Novak launches her new novel “Come Back, I Love You” on Nov. 12, 2025, at Magers & Quinn, Minneapolis. (Regal House Publishing)

That’s when I notice Bo is standing where he should have been sitting and Franny Hale is hovering in the spot I just left. She is so vague this time, ill-defined and transparent. And her transparency has color, like sky after rain, a pale and golden pink. Bo is transfixed by her. — from “Come Back, I Love You”

The ghost in Kathleen Novak’s new novel is gentle and quiet, but she wants something from Floria, who has moved into a 100-year-old little cottage on an “ancient lake” that seems to be Lake Superior. The narrator, whose name is not Floria, tells us little about herself except that she was married, lived for a while in a high-ceilinged apartment, and wanted a life of quiet. She keeps the paintings on the cottage walls that she learns were done by Franny Hale, the woman who lived there almost her entire life. Later, she finds sketches hidden in a catalog of a man who visited Franny while her husband was away at war.

Floria makes friends with her elderly, lively neighbor Mavis and her dog. The women bond over their love of the lake in all its moods. Floria (a name she’s taken from the lead character in the opera “Tosca”) tells Maeve about how Franny’s pictures are sometimes tilted and there are other manifestations of her presence. Does Franny want Floria to do something? Franny appears only a few times, getting more wispy each time. She seems happy when Floria plants a garden with the help of Bo, a long-legged, smart handyman who does repairs on the cottage.

Floria’s first summer in the cottage is glorious as she and Mavis watch activity on the lake and marvel over their good luck at living in such a place. But things turn when Mavis is hospitalized and moved to a nursing facility. Floria brings her flowers and fresh berries, but it is never the same. And Bo, with whom Floria has hoped to have a relationship, leaves for a year to live in the South.

So the title of this story, told by Floria in a no-nonsense voice, could have many meanings. Who should come back? Who is loved? Is it Mavis? Bo? Franny the ghost? Floria’s big Italian family about whom she often thinks? The lake?

It’s all of them, and the interesting part is that their intertwined stories do not end. Floria continues living in her beloved cottage, waiting for the next chapter in her life on the lake. We don’t know what happens to the other characters.

Novak is a poet and Minnesota Book Award finalist for “Do Not Find Me.” Its companion is “The Autobiography of Corrine Bernard.” Her historical novel “Steel” won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award for best fiction of 2022.

She will launch “Come Back, I Love You” at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Mpls.

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How did we begin? No, this isn’t about the birds and bees. It’s about Drew Ross’ “Becoming the Twin Cities” (Minnesota Historical Society Press, $27.95), the story of how and why St. Paul and Minneapolis evolved separately but have come together in a metropolitan area with the two cities so close together that visitors don’t even know which one they are in unless they pay attention to road signs

Subtitled “Swindles, Schemes, and Enduring Rivalries,” Ross’ book explores how many people have tried — and failed — to unite  Minneapolis and St. Paul into one city. Their motivations include visionary ideals, commercial gain or political ambition. He uncovers the 19th-century history of scheming, social rivalries and grudges, as well as utopian idealism and personal ambition that explain how the Twin Cities have the different governments and distinct personalities we know today.

It won’t come as a surprise that the configuration of the Mississippi River had a lot to do with early settlements. Beginning with the story of Fort Snelling’s founding and Joseph Plympton’s expansion of a reserve around it, Ross follows up with the land-grabbing and moneymaking schemes of Henry Rice and Franklin Steele, explores the rivalries between local Republicans and Democrats (and their partisan newspapers) and details the battles over the locations and significance of the Capitol, the State Fair and the Midway neighborhood. Among other characters are Lt. Zebulon Pike, tavern keeper Stephen Desnoyer, architect Horace W.S. Cleveland, religious leader (and land speculator) Archbishop Ireland, and publisher Bill King as well as St. Paul’s favorite early settler Pierre “Pig’s Eye” Parrant.

Ross, who lives in St. Paul, takes dryness out of history and makes it come alive with his easy style. He is a a writer, editor and researcher who won the Minnesota Historical Society’s 2024 Solon J. Buck Award for historical writing.

Ross will discuss his book at 2 p.m. Saturday at Minnesota History Center, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. The program is free and open to the public.

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This is the challenge when tech-gift shopping: Make a splash without spending a fortune. In fact, you want to keep each purchase to a bit over or a bit under $100.

Here are a few suggestions:

AirPods Pro 3: Apple’s flagship earbuds give you the gift of silence, or close to it. If you are in a noisy airplane cabin, a couple of stalk squeezes reduces the roar to a nearly inaudible hum. Apple has been picking away at this problem for years and nearly has it nailed. $249 apple.com

Clara Colour: Kindle, meet Kobo. This lesser-known line of ebook readers has appealing and often unique features. The Clara Colour model boasts a dazzling color screen. All Kobos offer built-in public-library access, and they can archive articles sent from your phone or computer. $159 kobo.com

Kindle: Prefer a Kindle? For a bargain, check out the entry-level Kindle (with nothing else in the name). This is a black-and-white model, but that’s all you need for pristine reading of text. It’s about the size of the Clara Colour and is available in a fetching matcha color. $109.99 amazon.com

Pill: This Beats speaker gets its name because it’s shaped like a giant capsule. It sounds terrific, though. Use its USB-C port for lossless audio playback or to charge an external device. A lanyard is included. It’s dust and water resistant. Battery life is 24 hours. $149.99 beatsbydre.com

Beats Pill portable speaker

MX Master 4: Logitech fans will cheer the new version of its flagship mouse. This one has a trick: a Haptic Sense Panel that vibrates when pressed, opening an on-screen Action Ring. You can load up that overlay with any app- and system-level shortcuts you desire. $119.99 logitech.com

Snap Grip 4 phone grip

Snap Grip 4: Don’t call this a Pop Socket, but the idea is much the same: A clicky doodad on the back of a phone that makes it easier to hold. Ohsnap!’s product is “stupid thin,” has a kickstand function, attaches to metal and doesn’t block MagSafe charging. $39.99 ohsnap.com

Signature Slim Solar+: Prominent in Logitech’s bag of tricks over the years is the solar keyboard, which derives power from any light source. even in a gloomy room. Now it’s back with model K980, which has the same light-sipping strip to keep the keyboard going. $99.99 logitech.com

Genki Moonbase powerstrip

Moonbase: It’s a power strip, but unlike any you’ve ever seen. It glows in a variety of unearthly colors, because it’s not of this Earth. It’s called the Moonbase, after all. The strip has three generously spaced AC outlets along four USB-C ports on one end. $139.99 genkithings.com

Power banks with stands: Portable power banks are great for keeping your phone charged while on the go, but the two devices make for a heavy, bulky bundle. UAG has the answer: It has built kickstands into its Slim ($69.95) and Rugged ($109.95) power bank models. urbanarmorgear.com

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After several weeks of public preview performances to test creative ideas, the world-premiere “Purple Rain” musical adaptation officially opened in its finished form Nov. 5.

Like the original 1984 film, the musical — which runs at the State Theatre in downtown Minneapolis through Nov. 23 before producers intend to bring it to Broadway — incorporates plenty of Prince songs.

So during the nearly two years the renowned creative team has been working on developing the musical, they’ve enlisted the help of two longtime Prince collaborators as music advisers: Bobby Z, who was the drummer in Prince’s band The Revolution between 1978 and 1986 and himself appeared in the “Purple Rain” movie; and Morris Hayes, who was a keyboard player in Prince’s subsequent band New Power Generation for about two decades and served as Prince’s musical director for several years.

While the musical was in its preview performance phase, we had the chance to chat by phone with the duo about developing the musical and protecting Prince’s legacy.

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Bobby Z, Brownmark & The Revolution performing in the Soundstage on Day 4 of Celebration 2019 at Paisley Park in Chanhassen on April 28, 2019. For the third year in a row, Celebration drew fans from around the world for four days of events at Prince’s studio/residence that was converted into a museum after his death in April 2016. (Steve Parke / The Prince Estate)

Q: What was it like for you to see “Purple Rain” come together onstage as a play during the preview performances, especially after having worked for so long on the project behind the scenes?

Morris Hayes: It was a very cool experience. I just got immersed in it like everyone else, and was just enjoying the show and enjoying what I was seeing. Of course there’s spots where you could say, ‘We could tweak this, or we could do that,’ but by and large, I really enjoyed the experience. I think with a few tweaks, a few minor things here and there, it’s going to be really something special, in my estimation. I like where it’s going.

Q: For you both, as musicians that knew Prince well and played alongside him, how did you approach your role as musical advisers in conversations with the play’s creative team?

Bobby Z: It’s a very good team of folks, and they’ve been very open to whatever Morris and I bring to make it more authentic, certainly musically but also just overall.

Knowing Prince — between Morris and me, I think 35 years of collective Prince knowledge, daily access — we have a unique insight, and certainly the music is what we were brought on to do, to make sure it was at a level that (he would have) approved. And that’s a hard thing to say, but the musical director, Jason Michael Webb, he gained our trust right away as a student of Prince’s music.

Q: That’s a big responsibility on you both, to guard Prince’s legacy and make sure they get it right.

BZ: It is, and we feel it, too. We’re trying to make it better every day, and so far so good. The dancing and music are a huge part of it, and it seems to be connecting with audiences, as Morris said earlier.

MH: Absolutely, 100 percent. What we’re here to try to do is just make sure that the legacy of Prince is protected in terms of the integrity of the music, and I believe that’s been done. As Bobby said, they are going the extra steps to make sure they talk to us, get our opinions. They want to know about the sound. Bobby’s telling them tempos, things that are very minuscule, nuanced things but they make a difference in the musical world, and they’re very interested in all of that.

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Q: What are you both up to nowadays besides working on this musical? How can people find your work?

MH: I’ve been doing a series of master classes where I go to universities, colleges, schools and teach students basically what I did with Prince and how they too can get in this business and this life. I had an extraordinary time with Prince, did a lot of amazing things I never dreamed I would do. I’m from a little small town in Arkansas. So what I’m trying to do is let other kids know that if I can do it, anybody can do it.

BZ: I’m working on a series of projects, doing some home renovation, but I’m really enjoying practicing more than I ever have. I’m finding myself spending more time playing drums, and I’m really enjoying just getting back to the elements there. Hopefully the Revolution will do some shows again next year. And I’m a grandfather, too, so I’m enjoying that. Life is full at the moment, and I’m very blessed and grateful.

Q: Yeah, to that point — what do you say to the next generation of musicians who are coming up and have a story to tell? How do you guide them?

MH: I tell them, the more that you know about the industry that you’re in, the better off you’re going to be. Technology is coming fast and furious. … We have a lot of tools, but it also means the industry is very dynamic. It changes very rapidly. So if one wants to keep up, one needs to be on top of these constant changes and trends.

But more than anything, just learn your instrument. Understand your instrument and your ability as a musician. Technology is one thing, but pick up an instrument and really learn it and how to do your own thing … And work ethic. Prince was all about work ethic; he was tenacious about starting things and finishing things. If you want to be successful, I think you really have to master that part of it.

BZ: I couldn’t agree more. It’s work ethic, it’s finishing projects, and it’s dedication. Look at how hard the team in the play is working — that’s the kind of dedication, they’re just putting their heart and soul into it, and that’s what I did and what Morris did playing with Prince. That’s what it takes.

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