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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. 

Gene Weingarten mines magic from 'One Day'

Gene Weingarten mines magic from 'One Day'

The humorist asked three strangers to pick a random day, month and year out of a hat — December 28, 1986, as it turned out. And then he set out to document every single thing he could for that day.
by Scott Simon

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Your perfect Halloween read

Prepare yourself, Halloween readers: Bookseller Aaron Cance has the ideal unnerving novel for you.
by Tracy Mumford

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End-to-beginning telling of inventor's story in 'Edison' makes for a circular read

End-to-beginning telling of inventor's story in 'Edison' makes for a circular read

Throughout his career, Edmund Morris repeatedly showed boredom, even disdain, for the traditional biography. In turn, he sometimes injected his books with an artistic flair that got in the way.
by Scott Detrow

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In 'Janis,' Joplin show to be a tangle of talents, contradictions and mythology

In 'Janis,' Joplin show to be a tangle of talents, contradictions and mythology

Holly George-Warren's research, eye for detail, illuminating contextualization and clear delivery make for a far more rounded and convincing image of the musician's precocity than seen previously.
by Jason Heller

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In Cixin Liu's 'Supernova Era,' the children really are our future

In Cixin Liu's 'Supernova Era,' the children really are our future

In this early work from the Hugo Award-winning author, a supernova near Earth kills off everyone over the age of 13 — and the remaining kids turn increasingly to violence as they struggle to rebuild.
by Jason Heller

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In 'The Less People Know About Us' a mysterious identity theft hits close to home

In 'The Less People Know About Us' a mysterious identity theft hits close to home

Axton Betz-Hamilton was 12 when her family's mail began disappearing. Her memoir details what follows and, when she discovers the culprit, the painful process of collecting the pieces of her past.
by Genevieve Valentine

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