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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.

'There's Something About Sweetie' -- something irrepressibly joyous

'There's Something About Sweetie' -- something irrepressibly joyous

Sandhya Menon's followup to her hit young adult novel "When Dimple Met Rishi" follows a young woman with a big voice, a big personality -- and to her family's dismay (though not her own), a big body.
by Alethea Kontis

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Little Free Library movement celebrates 10th anniversary

Little Free Library movement celebrates 10th anniversary

From humble beginnings in Hudson, Wis., the Little Free Library movement now reaches around the world, and it's celebrating its 10th anniversary this weekend.
by Marcheta Fornoff

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From the gridiron to multigrid algorithms on 'Mind and Matter'

From the gridiron to multigrid algorithms on 'Mind and Matter'

MIT mathematician and former Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel has a new memoir out about how he combined his two very different talents into a successful and varied career.
by Michel Martin

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'Red, White & Royal Blue' reigns as must-read romance

'Red, White & Royal Blue' reigns as must-read romance

Casey McQuiston's tale of a British prince who falls for the son of the U.S. president (who's a woman, by the way) is a snappy, banter-packed rom-com that's also empowering and uplifting.
by Kamrun Nesa

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Herman Wouk, 'The Jackie Robinson of Jewish-American fiction,' dies at 103

Herman Wouk, 'The Jackie Robinson of Jewish-American fiction,' dies at 103

Wouk was famous for writing "The Winds of War," "Marjorie Morningstar" and "The Caine Mutiny," which won a Pulitzer Prize. He also helped popularize themes that writers like Philip Roth later tackled.
by Rose Friedman

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Where myth, magical realism and women's bodies mix

Where myth, magical realism and women's bodies mix

"The stories are really inventive, they're often horrifying, beautifully lyrical, just different than anything I've read in a really long time," says bookseller Jen Murvin.
by Tracy Mumford

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Friendship keeps you human in 'Rules for Visiting'

Friendship keeps you human in 'Rules for Visiting'

Jessica Francis Kane's new novel follows a prickly, 40-something gardener who -- inspired by the friendless fate of Beowulf's monstrous Grendel -- decides to reconnect with four of her oldest friends.
by Ilana Masad

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'Middlegame' makes mathematical magic

'Middlegame' makes mathematical magic

Seanan McGuire's new standalone novel stars twins: Roger is good at words and Dodger is good at math -- and both of them find themselves caught up in a shadowy alchemical plan for world domination.
by Jason Sheehan

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'A Thousand Small Sanities' is a lesson in understanding liberalism

'A Thousand Small Sanities' is a lesson in understanding liberalism

By showing the impact it's had in the past, Adam Gopnik presents liberalism not only as a moral adventure but also as a necessity in an age of resurging autocracy and rampant bigotry.
by Gabino Iglesias

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Karen Russell proves she's a true original with 'Orange World'

Karen Russell proves she's a true original with 'Orange World'

Russell's new story collection encompasses everything from a boy in love with a bog body to a woman trying to get out of a bargain with the devil -- it's unlike anything you've ever read before.
by Michael Schaub

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