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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

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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.

'1973: Rock at the Crossroads' acts as a mirror for one moment in time

'1973: Rock at the Crossroads' acts as a mirror for one moment in time

Via popular music, Andrew Grant Jackson paints a vivid portrait of a year that was the last gasp of an age of possibility, when idealism gave way to economic recession and cynical disillusionment.
by Michael Schaub

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'At the Mountains of Madness,' spheroid space monsters are just like us

'At the Mountains of Madness,' spheroid space monsters are just like us

Gou Tanabe's graphic novel adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's novella makes its monsters both terrifying and weirdly human. Even if space spheres aren't your thing, Tanabe's art still prompts wonder.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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He was a horse that never won a race. So why should someone steal him?

He was a horse that never won a race. So why should someone steal him?

On Christmas Eve 2004, Urgent Envoy disappeared from his stable in the middle of the night. He had finished his only ever race in last place, but that didn't matter to the trainer who took him.
by Taylor Haney

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'The best thing you can do is not buy more stuff,' says 'Secondhand' expert

'The best thing you can do is not buy more stuff,' says 'Secondhand' expert

"Your average thrift store in the United States only sells about one-third of the stuff that ends up on its shelves," Adam Minter says. His book explores what happens to the things that don't sell.
by Terry Gross

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What bestseller lists really tell us about a book's popularity

What bestseller lists really tell us about a book's popularity

The Republican National Committee spent nearly $100,000 buying copies of Donald Trump Jr.'s new book. But did that money buy a spot on the New York Times bestseller list? Not exactly.
by Rose Friedman

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Maureen Corrigan's favorite books of 2019: Here are 10 unputdownable reads

Maureen Corrigan's favorite books of 2019: Here are 10 unputdownable reads

This year's list is a mix of literary fiction, true crime, memoirs and essays, from acclaimed authors as well as some brand new voices — and you won't be able to put any of them down.
by Maureen Corrigan

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Milan Kundera's Czech citizenship is restored after 40 years

Milan Kundera's Czech citizenship is restored after 40 years

The author of “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” saw his books banned and citizenship revoked in 1979. Exiled in Paris, Kundera began writing his novels in French.
by Laurel Wamsley

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Where did the Beatles get their inspiration?

Where did the Beatles get their inspiration?

Is it possible to trace the roots of the Beatles’ sound? Kerri Miller spoke with musician, producer and Beatles confidante Peter Asher about the source of their inspiration.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Stunning 'Little Bird' mashes up myth, family, technology and religion

Stunning 'Little Bird' mashes up myth, family, technology and religion

Filmmaker and author Darcy van Poelgeest's sweeping dystopian epic sometimes falls short on plot and character, but it's redeemed by virtuoso work from its illustrator, colorist and letterer.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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