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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. 

London's 'Mudlark' pulls treasure from the Thames

London's 'Mudlark' pulls treasure from the Thames

"I'm finding these ordinary pieces that perhaps, almost undoubtedly, nobody's touched since the last person who dropped it," Lara Maiklem says. "To reach down and pick that up is like reaching back through time, into history itself. It's the closest thing I can imagine to time travel."
by Petra Mayer

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Graphic adaptation of 'Heart of Darkness' takes on canonical racism, artfully

Graphic adaptation of 'Heart of Darkness' takes on canonical racism, artfully

Artist Peter Kuper has adapted Joseph Conrad's classic “Heart of Darkness” in a way that undercuts Conrad's depiction of Africa as a place of existential horror, and centers the African characters.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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The Booker Prize is shared by the 12 black Brits in 'Girl, Woman, Other'

The Booker Prize is shared by the 12 black Brits in 'Girl, Woman, Other'

Bernardine Evaristo's new award-winning novel follows a dozen different characters, aged 19-93. "I wanted to put as many black British women into it as possible," the author says.
by Scott Simon

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Scandal brings down a remarkable college basketball team in 'The City Game'

Scandal brings down a remarkable college basketball team in 'The City Game'

The '50 City College of New York Beavers were the only team to win the NIT and the NCAA tournaments. Matthew Goodman's book details how a point-shaving plot came to dominate the team's legacy.
by Michael Schaub

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'The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti' attempts to find a Cold War conspiracy

'The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti' attempts to find a Cold War conspiracy

Biographer Meryle Secrest chases a theory that two key Olivetti computer visonaries' deaths did not happen as officially recorded. While a gripping read at times, there's not a lot of solid ground.
by Bradley Babendir

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'The Deep' sings with many voices

'The Deep' sings with many voices

Rivers Solomon's lyrical, wrenching new novella is based on a track from the experimental rap group clipping., about a peaceful undersea race descended from slaves thrown overboard in the Atlantic.
by Jason Heller

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In 'Mobituaries,' Mo Rocca gives people the second send-offs they deserved

In 'Mobituaries,' Mo Rocca gives people the second send-offs they deserved

The humorist has expanded his podcast series into a book of essays on the historical figures (and objects, like station wagons, and empires, like Prussia) that didn't get enough love the first time.
by David Greene

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'A Marvelous Life' holds Stan Lee high as the man who made superheroes matter

'A Marvelous Life' holds Stan Lee high as the man who made superheroes matter

Danny Fingeroth spends some time unpacking Lee's long-running dispute with Jack Kirby and others over ownership, but mainly offers strong insights into the forces that drove Lee and Marvel to success.
by Adam Frank

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From lawn mowers to rock concerts, our 'Deafening World' is hurting our ears

From lawn mowers to rock concerts, our 'Deafening World' is hurting our ears

Volume Control author David Owen says our ears largely evolved in a far quieter time than the one we currently live in. He warns that the ambient noises that surround us pose a threat to our hearing.
by Dave Davies

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