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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.

Capturing the 'Voices of Mississippi'

Capturing the 'Voices of Mississippi'

Bookseller Kelle Barfield recommends much more than a book: She raves about a collection of music, oral history and other materials compiled by historian William Ferris.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Horse Latitudes' is a gripping mix of genres

'Horse Latitudes' is a gripping mix of genres

Part thriller, part noir, and part tropical gothic, Morris Collins' debut novel follows a New York photographer on a dangerous and increasingly surreal journey through Central America.
by Gabino Iglesias

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Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Russell Baker dies at 93

Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Russell Baker dies at 93

Baker made his name as a columnist for The New York Times, where he wrote thousands of columns over more than 30 years. He won one Pulitzer Prize for commentary, and another for his autobiography.
by Matthew S. Schwartz

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'The Snow Leopard Project' puts spotlight on Afghanistan's wildlife

'The Snow Leopard Project' puts spotlight on Afghanistan's wildlife

For many, Afghanistan does not at first conjure up images of black bears and musk deer. But that's just what Alex Dehgan found when his team went there in hope of establishing the first national park.
by Barbara J. King

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In 'The Birds, the Bees,' teens take on sex ed

In 'The Birds, the Bees,' teens take on sex ed

In Olivia Hinebaugh's new novel, a girl gets fed up with her school's abstinence-only classes and sets herself up as a sex ed expert, handing out condoms and advice with help from her mom, a nurse.
by Alethea Kontis

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'Prisoner' is an intimate portrait of one journalist's captivity in Iran

'Prisoner' is an intimate portrait of one journalist's captivity in Iran

Writer Jason Rezaian is unsparingly personal throughout the telling of his arrest, imprisonment and trial, writing of his childhood, family, visits with his wife -- and fears and insecurities.
by Mark Katkov

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'The Gilded Wolves' is a rich, high-speed heist tale

'The Gilded Wolves' is a rich, high-speed heist tale

Roshani Chokshi's new novel -- set in an alternate Belle Epoque Paris -- features an unlikely team of thieves out to steal a magical artifact with connections to their colonized homelands.
by Caitlyn Paxson

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'Unmarriageable' sets 'Pride and Prejudice' in Pakistan

'Unmarriageable' sets 'Pride and Prejudice' in Pakistan

You may not think the world needs another retelling of Jane Austen's classic, but Soniah Kamal's 'Unmarriageable' has an undercurrent of social and political commentary that makes it a worthwhile read.
by Ilana Masad

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There's no rest for anyone in 'The Dreamers'

There's no rest for anyone in 'The Dreamers'

Karen Thompson Walker's new novel imagines a pandemic that puts victims into a deep sleep, giving them strange dreams from which they may not wake up -- and panicking those still awake.
by Melissa Block

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Stephen King, Amy Tan headed to Minneapolis for new book festival

Stephen King, Amy Tan headed to Minneapolis for new book festival

The Loft Literary Center's inaugural Wordplay Book Festival, slated for May 11-12, will feature more than 100 authors. Ready to book your weekend with the wordsmiths? Registration opens in March.
by Nancy Yang

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