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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.

'Washington Black' is a soaring tale of enslavement and escape

'Washington Black' is a soaring tale of enslavement and escape

Esi Edugyan's new novel centers on a boy who escapes slavery via hot air balloon -- before crashing down to hard historical realities. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Washington Black "a wonder."
by Maureen Corrigan

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'The Ravenmaster' is definitely (there) for the birds

'The Ravenmaster' is definitely (there) for the birds

Legend says that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, England will fall. Luckily, ravenmaster Chris Skaife is there to care for them, and he's got a new book about these extraordinary birds.
by Petra Mayer

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A book that proposes 'every living thing has two bodies'

A book that proposes 'every living thing has two bodies'

"I just finished it the other night, and I have been thinking about it for three days," says bookseller Daley Farr.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Florida,' 'Heartland' among National Book Awards finalists

'Florida,' 'Heartland' among National Book Awards finalists

'This year, instead of just celebrating the best American literature, we're celebrating the best literature in America,' said Lisa Lucas, executive director of the National Book Foundation.
by Sasha Ingber

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Light and dark, characters shine in 'Blanca & Roja'

Light and dark, characters shine in 'Blanca & Roja'

Anna-Marie McLemore braids old bits of myth about swans and cursed sisters into a new, more inward-looking story that lets readers see just how hard it is to be a character in a fairy tale.
by Caitlyn Paxson

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'The Reckonings' examines what it means to have justice

'The Reckonings' examines what it means to have justice

Writing about topics as diverse as race, sexual assault, Hurricane Harvey, and art history, Lacy M. Johnson's essays are together a philosophy in disguise -- equal parts memoir, criticism and ethics.
by Lily Meyer

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'Infidel' uses the supernatural to explore racism's real life horrors

'Infidel' uses the supernatural to explore racism's real life horrors

The new comic series from creators Pornsak Pichetshote and Aaron Campbell follows a young Muslim-American woman living in an apartment building haunted by evil entities that feed on racist hate.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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'Presidents of War' sounds the alarm about presidential power

'Presidents of War' sounds the alarm about presidential power

In his new book, Michael Beschloss focuses on the lead up to war. But a more pressing danger and indictment of presidential power may be the interventions not authorized by Congress.
by Terri Bimes

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