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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. 

Chef's memoir tackles what it's like to be young, gifted and black in fine dining

Chef's memoir tackles what it's like to be young, gifted and black in fine dining

Kwame Onwuachi's new memoir isn't just about his rise from poverty to celebrated restaurateur. It's also a meditation on being a black man in a rarefied world.
by Maria Godoy and Lulu Garcia-Navarro

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Court life is murder in 'The Poison Bed'

Court life is murder in 'The Poison Bed'

Elizabeth Fremantle's twisty, deceptive new novel is based on the real-life story of the Earl and Countess of Somerset, who were convicted in the murder of a friend-turned-enemy in 1616.
by Bethanne Patrick

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In 'Stony the Road,' Henry Louis Gates Jr. looks at the period after Reconstruction

In 'Stony the Road,' Henry Louis Gates Jr. looks at the period after Reconstruction

In his new book, the literary scholar presents an absorbing, necessary look at the "Redemption" era, in which the hard-fought gains of African-Americans were rolled back by embittered Southern whites.
by Michael Schaub

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'Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss' is smart, comforting sentiment

'Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss' is smart, comforting sentiment

Rajeev Balasubramanyam's fourth novel follows a cantankerous yet sympathetic economics professor whose life is upended after he fails yet again to win a Nobel Prize (among other, lesser catastrophes).
by Heller McAlpin

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This is for 'The Undefeated': A new picture book celebrates black brilliance

This is for 'The Undefeated': A new picture book celebrates black brilliance

Kadir Nelson was inspired by Kwame Alexander's poem. It "spoke to excellence, and perseverance, and triumph amidst adversity," Nelson says. "It was an ode to the sung and unsung heroes in history."
by Ari Shapiro

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