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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread from MPR News

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

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread 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 every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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. Find reviews for new releases, as well as hidden gems you may have missed.

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. 

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer. 

Author Michael Pollan explains caffeine cravings (and why you don't have to quit)

Author Michael Pollan explains caffeine cravings (and why you don't have to quit)

When Pollan decided to write about caffeine, he gave it up — cold turkey. "I just couldn't focus," he says. "I was irritable. I lost confidence." Caffeine reshapes the brain in surprising ways.
by Terry Gross

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'Black Sunday' will destroy you — let it

'Black Sunday' will destroy you — let it

Tola Rotimi Abraham's wrenching novel follows a four young children in Lagos, Nigeria, whose comfortable life is blown apart when their mother loses her job, and their father abandons them.
by Gabino Iglesias

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Author L.L. McKinney: Barnes & Noble 'Diverse Editions' are 'literary blackface'

Author L.L. McKinney: Barnes & Noble 'Diverse Editions' are 'literary blackface'

Barnes & Noble suspended its campaign to reissue classic books with covers depicting protagonists as people of color after many authors, including McKinney, criticized the initiative.
by Audie Cornish

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New coronavirus 'won't be the last' outbreak to move from animal to human

New coronavirus 'won't be the last' outbreak to move from animal to human

Science writer David Quammen says the new coronavirus is the latest example of the way pathogens are migrating from animals to humans with increasing frequency — and sometimes deadly consequences.
by Dave Davies

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A widow, not a wife: 'Smacked' explores an ex-husband's secret addiction

A widow, not a wife: 'Smacked' explores an ex-husband's secret addiction

Eilene Zimmerman didn't learn of her ex-husband's addiction to cocaine and opioids until after his death. "This had happened in front of us, and we hadn't recognized it," she says.
by Terry Gross

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