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Online Fiction Book Group with author J. Ryan Stradal

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

Good conversation, friendly faces and great books - that's what book group is all about. We're looking forward to seeing you at our lively and engaging online book discussion.

Meetings take place via Zoom. Registered participants will be emailed meeting information prior to the event starting.

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

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Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make what most people would call a living. So she can't help wondering what her life would have been like with even a portion of the farm money her sister kept for herself.

With the proceeds from the farm, Helen builds one of the most successful light breweries in the country, and makes their company motto ubiquitous: "Drink lots. It's Blotz." Where Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, Helen's is as rigid as a steel keg. Yet one day, Helen will find she needs some help herself, and she could find a potential savior close to home. . . if it's not too late.

Meanwhile, Edith's granddaughter, Diana, grows up knowing that the real world requires a tougher constitution than her grandmother possesses. She earns a shot at learning the IPA business from the ground up--will that change their fortunes forever, and perhaps reunite her splintered family?

Here we meet a cast of lovable, funny, quintessentially American characters eager to make their mark in a world that's often stacked against them. In this deeply affecting family saga, resolution can take generations, but when it finally comes, we're surprised, moved, and delighted.

J. Ryan Stradal is the author of New York Times bestseller Kitchens of the Great Midwest and national bestseller The Lager Queen of Minnesota. His debut, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, has been translated into twelve languages, and also won the American Booksellers Association Indie's Choice Award for Adult Debut Book of the Year, the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association award for fiction, and the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for debut fiction. The Lager Queen of Minnesota, his second novel, was an instant bestseller, won the 2020 WILLA Award for the year's best contemporary fiction, and was a finalist for the 2020 Heartland Booksellers Award. His shorter writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Granta, Hobart, The Rumpus, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other places. Born and raised in Minnesota, he now lives in California with his family, where he enjoys sports, wine, craft beer, and peas.