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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.

Kids' author Mo Willems has a new creative challenge (and so should you)

Kids' author Mo Willems has a new creative challenge (and so should you)

The creator of the Pigeon series, Knuffle Bunny, and Elephant & Piggie is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the Kennedy Center. He says if you want kids to draw, you should let them see you drawing.
by Rachel Martin

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'Growing Things' will winds its tendrils into your mind

'Growing Things' will winds its tendrils into your mind

Horror writer Paul Tremblay's new short story collection is full of ghosts, monsters, nightmares and apocalypses -- all of which feel so close by they might be happening to you, right now.
by Jason Sheehan

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How the advance weather forecast got good

How the advance weather forecast got good

Under the radar (so to speak), predictions have improved dramatically of late. In 'The Weather Machine,' Andrew Blum writes that it's due to an international (and imperiled) alliance of supercomputers.
by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

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Podcasts are providing a new way into poetry

Podcasts are providing a new way into poetry

A poem on the page has its appeal -- but poetry spoken aloud is a more intimate experience. And a new crop of podcasts are expanding poetry, giving context to poems and drawing in new audiences.
by Jeevika Verma

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'Beautiful' essays that address race, family, religion and more

'Beautiful' essays that address race, family, religion and more

"I feel like everyone can see themselves reflected in this book, but also learn from something completely new," said bookseller Allison Punch.
by Tracy Mumford

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3 memoirs that explore the many facets of mental illness

3 memoirs that explore the many facets of mental illness

One in five Americans have some experience with mental illness every year -- and these three new memoirs dig into that experience, whether it's the author's own illness or that of a loved one.
by Jacki Lyden

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'Aloha Rodeo' offers alternative to the cowboy cliche

'Aloha Rodeo' offers alternative to the cowboy cliche

Journalists David Wolman and Julian Smith chronicle the history of Hawaii's cattle trade and profile a number of "paniolos" -- every bit as tenacious and resourceful as their mainland cohorts.
by Carson Vaughan

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Secrets kept by the 'Gone Dead' haunt the living

Secrets kept by the 'Gone Dead' haunt the living

Chanelle Benz's debut novel follows a woman digging into the death of her father, a celebrated African American writer who abandoned his family -- and died in a mysterious accident not long after.
by Michael Schaub

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'Ask Again, Yes' is a profound yet unpretentious family drama

'Ask Again, Yes' is a profound yet unpretentious family drama

Mary Beth Keane's novel opens in 1973 New York and follows two rookie cops and their families over four decades. Her closely-observed domestic tale transforms into something deep and universal.
by Maureen Corrigan

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