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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.

In 'The Book of Collateral Damage,' an accounting of what Baghdad lost

In 'The Book of Collateral Damage,' an accounting of what Baghdad lost

The novelist and poet Sinan Antoon, raised in Iraq and now living in New York, returned home following the 2003 U.S. occupation. That experience inspired his new work of fiction.
by Steve Inskeep

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In 'Very Nice,' even the dog is unfaithful

In 'Very Nice,' even the dog is unfaithful

Marcy Dermansky's new novel is a tart lemonade of a summer read, full of outspoken characters, libidinous activity -- much of it unwise -- around a swimming pool, and a beautiful standard poodle.
by Heller McAlpin

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Dapper Dan, telling stories in leather, fur and logos

Dapper Dan, telling stories in leather, fur and logos

The legendary hip-hop designer is now partnering with the big fashion labels who originally shut him down for bootlegging their logos. He's got a new memoir out, called 'Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem.'
by Audie Cornish

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'We Went to the Woods' warns: You can know history and still repeat it

'We Went to the Woods' warns: You can know history and still repeat it

Caite Dolan-Leach's new novel follows a young woman who gets kicked off a reality TV show and ends up on a 1960s-style commune, where utopian ideals soon fall prey to some very human foibles.
by Jean Zimmerman

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A teenage M.D. takes on the adult world in 'Symptoms of a Heartbreak'

A teenage M.D. takes on the adult world in 'Symptoms of a Heartbreak'

Sona Charaipotra's young adult novel might be familiar to back-in-the-day fans of Doogie Howser -- it's about 16-year-old supergenius Saira, fresh out of med school and interning at a hospital.
by Alethea Kontis

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'Three Women' puts female desire at the forefront

'Three Women' puts female desire at the forefront

For her new book, Lisa Taddeo spent nearly a decade immersed in the sex lives of three women. She says desire is one of the things we think about the most, and it's time to talk about women's desires.
by Sarah McCammon

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In 'The Gifted School,' ripped-from-the-headlines parental scheming

In 'The Gifted School,' ripped-from-the-headlines parental scheming

Bruce Holsinger's new novel -- about overprivileged parents cheating to get their kids into a magnet school -- is very topical, but the characters are too flat to hook readers' attention for long.
by Lily Meyer

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