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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. 

Booksellers across the country share their favorite books about hope 

Booksellers across the country share their favorite books about hope 

Ask a Bookseller has been reaching out to independent booksellers across the country, and they’ve recommended books of hope and connection to others and to the planet.
by Emily Bright

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5 buzzy books out this week that look inward

5 buzzy books out this week that look inward

A number of books out this week — a tale of tribal politics, a close-focus mystery, measured criticism and a unique relationship — are tied up in answering the question: How do we define ourselves?
by Colin Dwyer

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Most Americans want to read more books. We just don’t.

Most Americans want to read more books. We just don’t.

When we worry about the declining rates of literacy and a lack of reading skills, it’s often about children. But how often are adults reading these days? And what are we reading? A new NPR/Ipsos poll finds out.
by Andrew Limbong

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‘The Great Gatsby’ turns 100. What’s it like teaching it today?

‘The Great Gatsby’ turns 100. What’s it like teaching it today?

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel has spent years on high school reading lists. How are literature professors teaching it today? And do students still find it relevant?
by Andrew Limbong

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Who gets to be a critic? And why are some so ‘bad’?

Who gets to be a critic? And why are some so ‘bad’?

Andrea Long Chu and Britney Luse discuss why art is a “fossil record” of desire, what kind of authority critics have, and why we might need to rethink what criticism should do for us.
by Brittany Luse, Liam McBain, Barton Girdwood, Neena Pathak and Veralyn Williams

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Graphic Gatsby: K. Woodman-Maynard on adapting a classic for comics

Graphic Gatsby: K. Woodman-Maynard on adapting a classic for comics

Minnesota graphic novelist K. Woodman-Maynard discusses her adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” into a graphic novel, reflecting on its visual style, classroom potential and enduring themes as the original novel turns 100.
by Jacob Aloi

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Ask a Bookseller: ‘Black Liturgies’ by Cole Arthur Riley

Ask a Bookseller: ‘Black Liturgies’ by Cole Arthur Riley

China Reevers of Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Mont., recommends “Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human” by Cole Arthur Riley.
by Emily Bright

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