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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. 

'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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War and refuge: Minnesota Opera to set Hmong story to music

War and refuge: Minnesota Opera to set Hmong story to music

Kao Kalia Yang's memoir "The Song Poet" tells of her family's journey to St. Paul after war forces them to flee Laos. It's the first time a Hmong story will be presented as opera.
by Euan Kerr

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Barbara Bush saw Trump as a 'symbol of greed'

Barbara Bush saw Trump as a 'symbol of greed'

A new biography of the former first lady finds that her disdain for the Republican president, who transformed the party her own family had embodied for generations into his likeness, dates as least as far back as a 1990s diary entry.
by The Associated Press

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'Greek To Me' highlights the way ardent interests can enrich a life

'Greek To Me' highlights the way ardent interests can enrich a life

"Comma Queen" Mary Norris is an uncommonly engaging, witty enthusiast with a nose for delicious details and funny asides that makes you willing to follow her anywhere.
by Heller McAlpin

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'Love Your Enemies' ... and maaaybe you'll get them to agree with you

'Love Your Enemies' ... and maaaybe you'll get them to agree with you

Arthur Brooks says that even if you're sure someone's lying, calling that person a liar won't help your case. His book describes "how decent people can save America from the culture of contempt."
by Steve Inskeep

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Theoretical physics and down-to-earth loneliness in 'Lost and Wanted'

Theoretical physics and down-to-earth loneliness in 'Lost and Wanted'

Nell Freudenberger's new novel is a bittersweet love story -- about a lost friend, a missed romance, and an all-consuming career -- that uses dense scientific concepts to illuminate everyday emotions.
by Heller McAlpin

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'Sky Without Stars': Vive la revolution ... in space!

'Sky Without Stars': Vive la revolution ... in space!

Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell's new novel recasts "Les Miserables" on a distant -- yet French-inflected -- planet where a powerful Regime keeps the populace split and oppressed.
by Caitlyn Paxson

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