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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.

Underestimating these 'Maids' is a fatal mistake

Underestimating these 'Maids' is a fatal mistake

Katie Skelly's uncanny new graphic novel retells the real-life story of sisters Christine and Léa Papin, who were working as maids when they brutally murdered their employers.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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'This is an opportunity': Fareed Zakaria on 'Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World'

'This is an opportunity': Fareed Zakaria on 'Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World'

The CNN host and author says COVID-19 has widened the inequality gap. "The most important piece of what the federal government can do is to stabilize these people's lives with direct aid," he says.
by Dave Davies

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'Shelter In Place' is an ill-mannered comedy of manners

'Shelter In Place' is an ill-mannered comedy of manners

David Leavitt's new novel “Shelter in Place” aims for sparkling social comedy — but it's let down by a cast of privileged, shallow characters you wouldn't want to spend your lockdown with.
by Heller McAlpin

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'The Code For Love And Heartbreak' isn't 'Emma' — but it is charming

'The Code For Love And Heartbreak' isn't 'Emma' — but it is charming

Jillian Cantor's new YA novel lifts some of the elements of Jane Austen's classic — like character names — wholesale. But you'll enjoy it more if you don't expect the plot to follow exactly.
by Alethea Kontis

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A bookseller recommends 'The City in the Middle of the Night'

A bookseller recommends 'The City in the Middle of the Night'

In the “The City in the Middle of the Night” by Charlie Jane Anders, there is a planet that is half in constant darkness and half in unending sunlight. Humans can only survive in the margin where the two halves meet. From two opposite cities — one autocratic, one lawless — come two girls whose lives intertwine.
by Emily Bright

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Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o says prison formed him as a writer

Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o says prison formed him as a writer

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o is a perennial favorite for the Literature Nobel. He hasn't won yet — but he does have a new book out, a novel in verse that tells the origin story of Kenya's Gĩkũyũ people.
by Scott Simon

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For poet Maggie Smith, an ending was the beginning of her new book

For poet Maggie Smith, an ending was the beginning of her new book

Smith says she started writing “Keep Moving” as her marriage was ending. It began as a series of affirmations she wrote for herself on Twitter; she found that the posts were helping other people too.
by Mary Louise Kelly

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Talking Volumes: A conversation with Claudia Rankine

Talking Volumes: A conversation with Claudia Rankine

Kerri Miller hosts a conversation with poet, playwright, bestselling author, MacArthur Fellow, and Yale professor Claudia Rankine about her new collection “Just Us: An American Conversation.”
by Kerri Miller

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Phil Klay's new 'Missionaries' is an ambitious novel of ideas

Phil Klay's new 'Missionaries' is an ambitious novel of ideas

Klay won acclaim for his debut story collection “Redeployment,” about the experiences of soldiers. His long awaited novel looks at how America has developed and exported the idea of a war on terror.
by Lily Meyer

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