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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. 

You'll float away on the warm waters of 'The Starless Sea'

You'll float away on the warm waters of 'The Starless Sea'

Erin Morgenstern's long-awaited followup to The Night Circus imagines a world of magical doors leading to a literal underground sea — surrounded by layers of pleasurable mystery and mythography.
by Amal El-Mohtar

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Kevin Wilson is on fire in 'Nothing to See Here'

Kevin Wilson is on fire in 'Nothing to See Here'

Wilson's new novel centers on a young woman taking care of two kids with a disturbing ability: When upset, they burst into flames. But in Wilson's hands, what could be scary is funny, even beautiful.
by Heller McAlpin

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You may have to wait to borrow a new e-book from the library

You may have to wait to borrow a new e-book from the library

Macmillan Publishers Ltd. will begin restricting sales of new e-books to libraries to one per library system for the first eight weeks after publication. Libraries are fighting back.
by Lynn Neary

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The stunning memoir that could make Hemingway jealous

The stunning memoir that could make Hemingway jealous

Bookseller Jinny Amundson recommends a memoir by Beryl Markham, the first person to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic from east to west.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Eat Joy': Top authors serve up recipes that gave them comfort in dark times

'Eat Joy': Top authors serve up recipes that gave them comfort in dark times

In a new book of essays, writers such as Claire Messud and Edwidge Danticat share stories of surviving dark times and the foods entwined with those memories. Think of it as a cathartic dinner party.

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Racial unrest of early '90s Los Angeles resurfaces in 'Your House Will Pay'

Racial unrest of early '90s Los Angeles resurfaces in 'Your House Will Pay'

Steph Cha's new novel takes place in the present day, but she connects her story of Korean American and black communities in LA to the riots and injustices of nearly three decades ago.
by Ailsa Chang

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For author Kevin Wilson, writing offers a brief reprieve from Tourette's

For author Kevin Wilson, writing offers a brief reprieve from Tourette's

For Wilson, Tourette's syndrome means living with intrusive thoughts that flash disturbing images without warning. His novel, Nothing to See Here, was inspired by visions of spontaneous combustion.
by Terry Gross

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In new memoir 'Ordinary Girls,' Jaquira Díaz searches for home

In new memoir 'Ordinary Girls,' Jaquira Díaz searches for home

Jaquira Díaz grew up in a public housing project in Puerto Rico; her father was a drug dealer and her mother was diagnosed as schizophrenic. As a child, she says, "I thought everyone lived like this."
by Steve Inskeep

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'Shadow Network' offers a lesson on the American right's mastery of politics

'Shadow Network' offers a lesson on the American right's mastery of politics

Anne Nelson links "the manpower and media of the Christian right," "finances of Western plutocrats," and "strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives" via the Council for National Policy.
by Michael Schaub

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