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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. 

'Lie with Me' captures the wistfulness of first love, and first loss

'Lie with Me' captures the wistfulness of first love, and first loss

Philippe Besson's novel -- ably translated from the French by Molly Ringwald -- chronicles a painful teenaged heartbreak, followed by grown-up ennui. It's a well-worn but very well-told tale.
by Michael Schaub

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What don't you talk about with your mom?

What don't you talk about with your mom?

A book of essays from a diverse, accomplished array of writers reveals the ways our mothers fail us and we fail them -- and poses the question of how much a tough conversation could close those rifts.
by Danielle Kurtzleben

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In 'I Was Their American Dream,' it's culture, not color, that matters

In 'I Was Their American Dream,' it's culture, not color, that matters

Even as NPR editor Malaka Gharib makes light of herself in her high-spirited graphical memoir, her wisdom about the power and limits of racial identity is evident in the way she draws.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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Whatever your feelings on football, 'Fumbled' scores big

Whatever your feelings on football, 'Fumbled' scores big

Alexa Martin is married to a former NFL player, and she puts that experience to good use in her latest football romance -- a witty, sexy story about a determined single mom rediscovering an old love.
by Denny S. Bryce

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A family road trip story unlike any you've read

A family road trip story unlike any you've read

Bookseller Matt Keliher recommends a new novel that has one of his favorite scenes in fiction this year.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Parable of the Sower' blooms into an opera

'Parable of the Sower' blooms into an opera

The book by Octavia Butler at first frightened off the musician Toshi Reagon, and then drew her in.
by Marianne Combs

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Real photos inspire a fictional life in 'Feast Your Eyes'

Real photos inspire a fictional life in 'Feast Your Eyes'

Myla Goldberg's new novel is written as an exhibition catalogue for photographer Lillian Preston, who's fictional -- but her story of ambition and controversy in 1950s New York is real and relatable.
by Ari Shapiro

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'The Heartland' aims to debunk myths about the Midwest

'The Heartland' aims to debunk myths about the Midwest

Though leaving no answer to the region's political future, author Kristin L. Hoganson writes a deeply researched book that will remain useful and readable long after this election cycle.
by Bradley Babendir

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'The Beneficiary' weighs the emotional heft of inheritance

'The Beneficiary' weighs the emotional heft of inheritance

Janny Scott, a biographer and award-winning reporter for The New York Times, has written a vivid and penetrating memoir about her own illustrious family.
by Maureen Corrigan

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