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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.

Kerri Miller’s two novels for ‘Downton Abbey’ addicts

Kerri Miller’s two novels for ‘Downton Abbey’ addicts

MPR News host Kerri Miller is still savoring the pleasure of the new “Downton Abbey” movie. This week on The Thread, she brings us two novels with a great “Upstairs, Downstairs” vibe.
by Kerri Miller

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'I've never told anyone': Stories of life in Indian boarding schools

'I've never told anyone': Stories of life in Indian boarding schools

A new book by Ojibwe author Denise Lajimodiere, “Stringing Rosaries,” tells the first-person stories of life for Native American children who were sent to boarding schools designed to purge their language and culture.
by Dan Gunderson

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From snakes to spikes, reporters reveal Trump's extreme border proposals

From snakes to spikes, reporters reveal Trump's extreme border proposals

Border Wars authors Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Michael Shear chronicle the president's attempts to upend the nation's immigration system — including a proposed alligator-filled border trench.
by Terry Gross

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Rachel Maddow on oil and gas, Russia and Democracy in 'Blowout'

Rachel Maddow on oil and gas, Russia and Democracy in 'Blowout'

The MSNBC host's book compiles the most convincing research and journalism on the harm oil and gas have done to global democracy, and then weaves together a narrative of greed, power and corruption.
by Annalisa Quinn

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Renia Spiegel's diary survived the Holocaust. People are finally reading it

Renia Spiegel's diary survived the Holocaust. People are finally reading it

Renia's Diary spent decades in a safe deposit box before being published this week in the U.S. It was written by a Jewish teenager in Poland before she was murdered by the Nazis.
by Lynn Neary

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In Meg Cabot's latest, saving animals, finding love, and making 'No Judgments'

In Meg Cabot's latest, saving animals, finding love, and making 'No Judgments'

The heroine of Cabot's new novel, inspired by a real story, tries not to judge the neglectful people who've abandoned their pets after a hurricane batters her Florida home town. Hint: It's difficult.
by Kamrun Nesa

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Tracy Chevalier says 'A Single Thread' can make all the difference

Tracy Chevalier says 'A Single Thread' can make all the difference

Chevalier's new novel follows one of the generation of "surplus women," who lost their men in World War I and had to make new lives for themselves — sometimes outside the bounds of convention.
by Petra Mayer

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Rainbow Rowell's 'Wayward Son' seeks peace on the road

Rainbow Rowell's 'Wayward Son' seeks peace on the road

In her new book, Rowell returns to her Harry Potter-inspired heroes Simon and Baz — who've saved the world from evil and are at a loss as to what to do next. The answer? A road trip across America.
by Caitlyn Paxson

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