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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.

Random House copy chief: Stand tall, wordsmiths! (But choose your battles)

Random House copy chief: Stand tall, wordsmiths! (But choose your battles)

The subtitle of Benjamin Dreyer's book is "An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style," but "the last thing that I want to do is to pass myself off as some sort of ferocious gatekeeper," he says.
by Terry Gross

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'Bowlaway' scores a strike

'Bowlaway' scores a strike

Elizabeth McCracken's new novel -- a multigenerational saga centered around a Massachusetts bowling alley and its crew of misfits -- will grab you from the very first line.
by Heller McAlpin

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Duluth teachers, district grapple with how to move on from 'Mockingbird'

Duluth teachers, district grapple with how to move on from 'Mockingbird'

Since Duluth schools pulled "To Kill a Mockingbird,"the debate over selecting an alternative has highlighted just how difficult it can be to teach the iconic book, and how hard it can be to replace it.
by Dan Kraker

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Teen drag queens will steal your heart in 'Death Prefers Blondes'

Teen drag queens will steal your heart in 'Death Prefers Blondes'

Caleb Roehrig's new YA thriller follows socialite-turned-cat burglar Margo Manning and her crew of kickboxing drag queens as they take on one last multimillion-dollar heist -- and its consequences.
by Caitlyn Paxson

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Nothing is taboo in 'Twenty-Ninth Year'

Nothing is taboo in 'Twenty-Ninth Year'

Hala Alyan reflects on three decades of life in an intimate, unsparing new poetry collection that offers a unique look at life as a Palestinian in exile, a woman, and a young person looking for love.
by Gabino Iglesias

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'Here And Now And Then' is a perilous mix of parenthood and time travel

'Here And Now And Then' is a perilous mix of parenthood and time travel

In Mike Chen's debut novel, a time-traveling secret agent is stranded in the past and has to live out a normal life -- including a family -- that becomes a problem when he returns to his own time.
by Ilana Masad

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In 'Maid,' a single mother finds 'no way' to make it on minimum wage

In 'Maid,' a single mother finds 'no way' to make it on minimum wage

While raising her young daughter, Stephanie Land cleaned houses to scrape by. It was back-aching work and the pay -- $8.55 an hour to start, $9.25 an hour two years in -- just wasn't enough.
by Terry Gross

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In 'We Cast A Shadow,' the horrors are close to home

In 'We Cast A Shadow,' the horrors are close to home

Maurice Carlos Ruffin's razor-sharp new novel is set in a dystopian near future where race relations have deteriorated further and scientists have developed a procedure to "demelanize" black people.
by Michael Schaub

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