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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.

'A Room Away from the Wolves' makes the Gothic bitingly modern

'A Room Away from the Wolves' makes the Gothic bitingly modern

Nova Ren Suma takes all the classic Gothic novel tropes -- an old house, a cursed ring, evil stepsisters, a dark family legacy -- and gives them a bracing update.
by Caitlyn Paxson

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Apocalypse? Naw. 'Woman World' is a laid-back utopia

Apocalypse? Naw. 'Woman World' is a laid-back utopia

Aminder Dhaliwal's popular Instagram comic chronicles life in a world where men have gone extinct. It turns out, without men, life is pretty mellow -- making for a sly critique of patriarchy.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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An almost-too-real portrait of modern Russia

An almost-too-real portrait of modern Russia

"It's very harsh and it's full of violence and incongruities, but it's also truly fully of the Russian spirit," says bookseller Kate Jacobs, about the novel "A Terrible Country."
by Tracy Mumford

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Here are the 2018 National Book Award longlists, featuring a fresh category

Here are the 2018 National Book Award longlists, featuring a fresh category

Fifty nominated books now remain in contention for prizes in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, young people's literature -- and, in a fresh twist to the annual slate, translated literature.
by Colin Dwyer

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'The Real Lolita' investigates the true crime story of Sally Horner

'The Real Lolita' investigates the true crime story of Sally Horner

Written in light of Nabokov's famous novel, the book stands out for its captivating mix of tenacious reporting, astute literary analysis and passionate posthumous recognition of a defenseless child.
by Heller McAlpin

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'The Dinosaur Artist' dusts off the debate over who should own fossils

'The Dinosaur Artist' dusts off the debate over who should own fossils

Author Paige Williams brings the discussion to life by recounting the exploits of commercial fossil hunter Eric Prokopi, highlighting one find -- a 24-ft.-long Tarbosaurus fossil, the book's star.
by Barbara J. King

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Novelist who penned 'How To Murder Your Husband' essay charged with husband's murder

Novelist who penned 'How To Murder Your Husband' essay charged with husband's murder

Chef Daniel Brophy was shot dead in June at the culinary institute where he was an instructor. In 2011, his wife wrote a blog post imagining different methods and motives for killing one's spouse.

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