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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

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.

New book examines how the 1st Amendment sits at the forefront in an election year

New book examines how the 1st Amendment sits at the forefront in an election year

Right now, we have "an entire government apparatus designed to foster falsehoods," says editor Ellis Cose, who has written a new book, “The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America.”
by Michel Martin

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A new picture book reminds Black sons: You are 'every good thing'

A new picture book reminds Black sons: You are 'every good thing'

When Derrick Barnes began writing children's books 15 years ago, he didn't see Black kids — boys in particular — depicted in positive, affirming ways. Barnes has four sons of his own and he wrote his new book — “I Am Every Good Thing” — to be empowering and affirming.
by Samantha Balaban

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Yes, there's conflict — but no one's the bad guy in 'Memorial'

Yes, there's conflict — but no one's the bad guy in 'Memorial'

Bryan Washington's debut novel brings together an eclectic cast of characters who redefine family. He says he wanted to write about people operating from a place of love, rather than disdain or hate.
by Scott Simon

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'Snapped' grounds a sparky romance in real-world experience

'Snapped' grounds a sparky romance in real-world experience

Alexa Martin draws on her own life for the latest in her series of football-themed romances. “Snapped” deals with some of the problems that plague the sport, but never loses sight of the love story.
by Denny S. Bryce

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Talking Volumes: A conversation with Sarah Broom

Talking Volumes: A conversation with Sarah Broom

Kerri Miller hosts a conversation with award-winning author Sarah Broom about her book “The Yellow House.”
by Kerri Miller

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'Flamer' offers real hope — not just rainbows — to queer kids

'Flamer' offers real hope — not just rainbows — to queer kids

Mike Curato's new young adult graphic novel “Flamer” follows a teenager struggling with self-hate and all the different parts of his identity — being a Catholic, a Boy Scout, and being gay.
by Juanita Giles

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'Dark Archives' explores the use of human skin in bookbinding

'Dark Archives' explores the use of human skin in bookbinding

Megan Rosenbloom tells readers an adventurous tale of how her morbid curiosity brought her across an ocean to investigate the origins, motivations and techniques behind this macabre practice.
by Connor Goodwin

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History and hatred drive the horror in 'Ring Shout'

History and hatred drive the horror in 'Ring Shout'

P. Djèlí Clark's new novella is set in an alternate Jim Crow America where the Ku Klux Klan contains actual pointy-headed white demons, and “The Birth Of a Nation” is not just a film but an incantation.
by Danny Lore

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Real-world experience gives 'The Nightworkers' its punch

Real-world experience gives 'The Nightworkers' its punch

Brian Selfon spent years working in the criminal justice field, and he brings that knowledge to bear in his debut, about a family of money launderers whose lives are upended when a bag goes missing.
by Gabino Iglesias

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