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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.

After 150 years, 'Little Women' still resonates

After 150 years, 'Little Women' still resonates

In "Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy," Anne Boyd Rioux describes how the sisterly bond of the March girls that Louisa May Alcott created many years ago remains a paragon of female friendship and inspiration.
by Ilana Masad

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'How Are You Going to Save Yourself' asks the hard questions

'How Are You Going to Save Yourself' asks the hard questions

JM Holmes asks a lot of questions in his debut story collection, a shockingly powerful, gorgeously written book about four African-American friends growing up and growing apart.
by Michael Schaub

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'To Be Honest,' this is a sweet book about a savvy young woman

'To Be Honest,' this is a sweet book about a savvy young woman

Maggie Ann Martin's new novel follows Savannah, who's dealing with her sister's departure for college, her mother's obsession with her weight, and the cute new boy at school.
by Alethea Kontis

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Why we can't look away from the end of the world

Why we can't look away from the end of the world

Jason Mott's novels capture dark, unforgiving situations: the dead returning, a new world war, a deadly epidemic. Why do we have a taste for those stories?
by Kerri Miller and Tracy Mumford

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Dispatches from a 'Dopesick' America

Dispatches from a 'Dopesick' America

Author Beth Macy details opioids' odyssey from medicine to scourge, in her book about young heroin users, their long-suffering parents, doctors, drug company executives, cops, judges and drug dealers.
by Dave Davies

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'Coyote Doggirl' is a childlike Western with hidden depths

'Coyote Doggirl' is a childlike Western with hidden depths

Artist Lisa Hanawalt creates kids' stories for grownups, both on TV -- she's the production designer for "BoJack Horseman" -- and in her new book "Coyote Doggirl," a candy-colored Western saga.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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Book review: Once 'Ball Lightning' gets rolling, this sci-fi mind-bender shines

Book review: Once 'Ball Lightning' gets rolling, this sci-fi mind-bender shines

The novel is Chinese writer Cixin Liu's first in English since his "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy. And that series' radical creativity returns in this tale of scientific striving -- eventually.
by Colin Dwyer

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Once 'Ball Lightning' gets rolling, this sci-fi mind-bender shines

Once 'Ball Lightning' gets rolling, this sci-fi mind-bender shines

The novel is Chinese writer Cixin Liu's first in English since his "Remembrance of Earth's Past" trilogy. And that series' radical creativity returns in this tale of scientific striving -- eventually.
by Colin Dwyer

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In 'Severance,' the world ends not with a bang, but a memo

In 'Severance,' the world ends not with a bang, but a memo

Ling Ma's shocking and ferocious new novel mashes up a zombie apocalypse story with the everyday tribulations of office life -- you may run from zombies but you'll never escape middle management.
by Michael Schaub

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An immortal goddess gets her due

An immortal goddess gets her due

Remember Circe from "The Odyssey"? The ancient sorceress finally gets to take center stage in Madeline Miller's new novel.
by Tracy Mumford

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