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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. 

These cli-fi classics are cautionary tales for today

These cli-fi classics are cautionary tales for today

As heat waves roll across Europe and storms pummel the American South, literature is responding. But climate fiction — or cli-fi — is nothing new, and we've got a roundup of some classics.
by Jason Heller

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From insomnia to sexsomnia, unlocking the 'secret world' of sleep

From insomnia to sexsomnia, unlocking the 'secret world' of sleep

Neurologist Guy Leschziner, author of The Nocturnal Brain, says the brain can be in different sleep stages at once — which explains why people sometimes walk, eat and even have sex when sleeping.
by Dave Davies

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'Lager Queen' author was tired of caricatures of Midwestern women

'Lager Queen' author was tired of caricatures of Midwestern women

J. Ryan Stradal wasn't seeing the strong, Midwestern women who raised him reflected well in contemporary fiction. So he decided to write those characters himself in “The Lager Queen of Minnesota.”
by Ari Shapiro

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Talking Volumes 2019 season guide

Talking Volumes 2019 season guide

The 20th season of Talking Volumes will feature interviews with Alice Hoffman, Saeed Jones, Tim O’Brien, Karen Armstrong, Lindy West and Tracy K. Smith.
by MPR News Staff

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'Gods of Jade and Shadow' spins a dark, dazzling fairy tale

'Gods of Jade and Shadow' spins a dark, dazzling fairy tale

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's novel is set in an alternate Jazz Age Mexico, where gods and monsters from Mayan mythology walk the Earth and war with each other for dominion over Xibalba, the land of death.
by Arkady Martine

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In 'Beijing Payback,' the immigrant experience, but make it a crime thriller

In 'Beijing Payback,' the immigrant experience, but make it a crime thriller

Daniel Nieh used to be a model and a translator. He says both of those professions went into his debut novel, a page-turner about a college basketball player unraveling his Chinese father's murder.
by Ari Shapiro

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In 'My Ideal Boyfriend Is a Croissant', the heroine is no flake

In 'My Ideal Boyfriend Is a Croissant', the heroine is no flake

Laura Dockrill's young adult novel stars a refreshingly direct, unapologetic — and occasionally crass — plus-sized girl who uses her doctor-imposed food diary to record her life and feelings.
by Alethea Kontis

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'At Dusk' exposes South Korea through a variety of lenses

'At Dusk' exposes South Korea through a variety of lenses

Hwang Sok-yong's novel is a perfect slice of Koreana; a touching, somewhat depressive narrative full of nostalgia exposing the underbelly of a nation via the people inhabiting society's bottom rung.
by Gabino Iglesias

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