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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.

Natasha Trethewey: poetry speaks 'across the lines that would divide us'

Natasha Trethewey: poetry speaks 'across the lines that would divide us'

The Pulitzer Prize winner and former Poet Laureate has a new collection out, called Monument, that takes on American history, personal history, and the lives that history and poetry often overlook.

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This novel delivers a 'mix of horror and elegance'

This novel delivers a 'mix of horror and elegance'

Bookseller Annie Metcalf recommends a novel "for readers who want to be challenged and scared — but are also interested in new voices in translation."
by Tracy Mumford

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'Wait Wait' host Peter Sagal writes a book about running

'Wait Wait' host Peter Sagal writes a book about running

He's the voice of NPR's comedy news quiz. He has also run a marathon in under 3:10. And now he has collected his thoughts about his avocation in 'The Incomplete Book of Running.'
by Ari Shapiro

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Got what it takes to write a novel in one month?

Got what it takes to write a novel in one month?

Nov. 1 marks the start of National Novel Writing Month, and more than 600 writers in Minnesota are racing to write a novel by the end of the month.
by Emily Bright

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Actor Michael Caine on his long career: 'The alternative was a factory'

Actor Michael Caine on his long career: 'The alternative was a factory'

From the title heartthrob in 'Alfie' to the fatherly butler of a 'Batman' franchise, the actor has been filling movie screens for a half-century. His new memoir is 'Blowing The Bloody Doors Off.'
by Ari Shapiro

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How do you move a bookstore? With a human chain, book by book

How do you move a bookstore? With a human chain, book by book

Shoulder to shoulder, they formed a line 500 feet long: from the stockroom of the old shop, down the sidewalk, and onto the shop floor of the new store.

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Fierce and mysterious, 'The Naked Woman' walks in dark dreams

Fierce and mysterious, 'The Naked Woman' walks in dark dreams

The Uruguayan writer Armonia Somers was part of a generation of talented artists -- but she stood out, so wild, surreal and uncompromising that she scared critics and other authors alike.
by Lily Meyer

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Louis Cha, who wrote beloved Chinese martial arts novels, dies

Louis Cha, who wrote beloved Chinese martial arts novels, dies

He's been called China's Tolkien, its Martin, its Rowling -- all in one. With his adventure stories rooted in ancient China, Louis Cha gave life to decades' worth of martial arts films.
by Bill Chappell

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'The Proposal' knocks it out of the park

'The Proposal' knocks it out of the park

Jasmine Guillory's new romance kicks off with her heroine rejecting an over-the-top public proposal at a ball game -- luckily, there's a hot, sensitive doctor on hand to help her with the backlash.
by Kamrun Nesa

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