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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Sam Stroozas rounds up local events and Minnesota book news you may have missed.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where host Emily Bright checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. Listen to Ask a Bookseller to find your next favorite book.

Big Books and Bold Ideas

Big Books and Bold Ideas is a weekly series hosted by Kerri Miller and produced by Kelly Gordon every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

Talking Volumes

Talking Volumes is an annual event series featuring notable authors in conversation about their new books. Presented by MPR News and The Minnesota Star Tribune.

Journalist investigates 'crime story' of the Sackler family and the opioid crisis

Journalist investigates 'crime story' of the Sackler family and the opioid crisis

“Empire of Pain” author Patrick Radden Keefe says the Sackler family has "thrown a lot of energy" into trying to thwart his reporting about the family's involvement in the opioid crisis.
by Terry Gross

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'The Final Revival of Opal & Nev' is a faux music history that rocks

'The Final Revival of Opal & Nev' is a faux music history that rocks

Dawnie Walton's sly narrative is a story about music, race and family secrets that spans five decades, centering on an interracial rock duo who strike it big in the early '70s.
by Maureen Corrigan

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'The Souvenir Museum' is an exhibit to savor

'The Souvenir Museum' is an exhibit to savor

Elizabeth McCracken's new story collection dazzles with verbal flexibility, insight and feeling, capturing the oddities and mixed bags, the loves and losses that make up most people's lives.
by Heller McAlpin

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Mother-daughter memoir of autism exemplifies the power of language

Mother-daughter memoir of autism exemplifies the power of language

Heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, “I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust” is a chronicle of not only finding one's voice, but of learning to make others understand that voice.
by Jason Heller

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John Boehner on the 'noisemakers' of the Republican Party

John Boehner on the 'noisemakers' of the Republican Party

Boehner was the Republican speaker of the House during much of the Obama presidency. His new memoir recounts his time leading House Republicans — even if that meant doing things he personally opposed.
by Steve Inskeep, James Doubek, Bo Hamby and Reena Advani

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Kim Scott’s advice on creating a more just workplace

Kim Scott’s advice on creating a more just workplace

Kim Scott has worked at some of Silicon Valley’s best known businesses including Apple and Google. The author of “Just Work” shared her advice for addressing bias and bullying at work.
by Stephanie Curtis and Marcheta Fornoff

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Ambition, alchemy and searching for way to fit in 'Gold Diggers'

Ambition, alchemy and searching for way to fit in 'Gold Diggers'

Sanjena Sathian's novel follows a Georgia teenager, son of Indian immigrants, as he struggles with balancing his own ambitions and those of his parents, and finding his own way to be brown in America.
by Ilana Masad

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Author Viet Thanh Nguyen on ‘The Committed’

Author Viet Thanh Nguyen on ‘The Committed’

The award-winning author joined MPR News for a conversation about his life and the inspiration behind his latest novel.
by Kerri Miller and Marcheta Fornoff

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Too many 'Peaces' overload an otherwise entertaining story

Too many 'Peaces' overload an otherwise entertaining story

Helen Oyeyemi's new novel is a no-holds-barred mashup of Agatha Christie-style mystery oddities like mongoose genealogy, kidnapped gaming champions and a woman who chokes on emeralds in her sleep.
by Gabino Iglesias

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