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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. 

'The Outlaw Ocean': A forgotten frontier where slavery and illegal activities abound

'The Outlaw Ocean': A forgotten frontier where slavery and illegal activities abound

Ian Urbina combines stellar investigative reporting skills and straightforward writing to convey what lies on the other side of the ocean — opposite cruise-ship vacations to beautiful beaches.
by Gabino Iglesias

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'Floating Coast' reads like a eulogy to the natural world — with a sliver of hope

'Floating Coast' reads like a eulogy to the natural world — with a sliver of hope

The triumph of this book is how Bathsheba Demuth pulls seemingly disparate threads together into a net of actions and consequences from which the whales, the Yupik, and our children can't escape.
by Genevieve Valentine

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If these 2 titles remind you of masterful suspense novels, they should

If these 2 titles remind you of masterful suspense novels, they should

Laura Lippman's Lady in the Lake recollects Raymond Chandler's fourth Philip Marlowe novel and Ruth Ware's The Turn of the Key recalls Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Happily, they both live up.
by Maureen Corrigan

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Fast food, the 494 strip and pickup basketball molded a sportswriter

Fast food, the 494 strip and pickup basketball molded a sportswriter

Bloomington native Steve Rushin’s second memoir “Nights in White Castle” capture his teen years in the Twin Cities suburbs, and how they helped him capture his dream job as a Sports Illustrated staff writer.
by Euan Kerr

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In 'Gods with a Little G,' the kids are alright

In 'Gods with a Little G,' the kids are alright

Tupelo Hassman's novel about a group of teenagers at loose ends in a tiny town run by Christian fundamentalists has some dark moments, but ultimately it's as heartwarming as it is beautifully written.
by Michael Schaub

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'Inland' creates a new myth of the Old West

'Inland' creates a new myth of the Old West

Téa Obreht's new novel is set against a familiar old West backdrop, but it tells a fresh story of two people, both haunted in their own ways — a tough frontier woman and an immigrant camel driver.
by Lily Meyer

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