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The Thread® - Books and Literary 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. 

'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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Jenny Slate's 'Little Weirds' is just not weird enough

Jenny Slate's 'Little Weirds' is just not weird enough

The stand-up comic's essays have soft and lovely moments, steering readers toward finding their own vulnerabilities. But Slate is not as open to self-exposure on the page as she is on the stage.
by Lily Meyer

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'The Great Pretender' seeks the truth 'on being sane in insane places'

'The Great Pretender' seeks the truth 'on being sane in insane places'

Journalist and Brain on Fire author Susannah Cahalan writes in an urgent, personal book that the '70s study by David Rosenhan had an outsized effect on psychiatry — and may have been fatally flawed.
by Michael Schaub

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In 'Get a Life, Chloe Brown,' love doesn't cure all — but it sure is fun

In 'Get a Life, Chloe Brown,' love doesn't cure all — but it sure is fun

Talia Hibbert's new novel stars Chloe, who's determined to get a life after years of coping with chronic pain, and Red, the mysterious and extremely annoying (at first) super at her new building.
by Denny S. Bryce

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'Felon' author says, 'everybody has to tell their kids something'

'Felon' author says, 'everybody has to tell their kids something'

Lawyer-poet Reginald Dwayne Betts for years hid the fact that he had served time in prison. Now, this time in his life is at the center of his new collection of poems.
by Leila Fadel

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