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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.

Americans say government is broken. Can it be fixed?

Americans say government is broken. Can it be fixed?

Journalist Steven Brill wanted to find out why so many Americans have lost faith in their government. What he discovered fills "Tailspin: The People and Forces Behind America's Fifty-Year Fall — and Those Fighting to Reverse It."
by Stephanie Curtis and Elizabeth Shockman

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In 'Calypso,' David Sedaris blends slime and the sublime

In 'Calypso,' David Sedaris blends slime and the sublime

David Sedaris' new story collection is earthy, to say the least -- concerned with all the gross things that happen as we live and age -- but also full of wonder at his life, and appreciation for his family.
by Heller McAlpin

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Sexuality, mortality, failure -- 'My Ex-Life' has fun asking big questions

Sexuality, mortality, failure -- 'My Ex-Life' has fun asking big questions

A divorced couple reconnects after nearly 30 years apart in Stephen McCauley's new novel. Critic Maureen Corrigan says "My Ex-Life" is a social satire that's "suffused with generosity."
by Maureen Corrigan

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'Some Trick' takes on the life of the (delightfully irritable) mind

'Some Trick' takes on the life of the (delightfully irritable) mind

Helen DeWitt's new story collection seems less like a book, and more like a series of notes from some vast, alien intelligence, capable of picking apart human habits with startling precision.
by Annalisa Quinn

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Thread Book Hour: Arundhati Roy

Thread Book Hour: Arundhati Roy

Kerri Miller interviews Man Booker Award winning author Arundhati Roy.

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Two Syrian teenage girls, 800 years apart

Two Syrian teenage girls, 800 years apart

The author of "The Map of Salt and Stars" tells two parallel stories that she hopes will move readers to care about the Syrian war.
by Euan Kerr

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What happens when two enemies fall in love?

What happens when two enemies fall in love?

A love story between a black Army nurse and a German POW during World War II? You couldn't make that story up -- and Alexis Clark, author of the upcoming book, "Enemies in Love," didn't.
by Karen Grigsby Bates

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What's going on in your child's brain when you read them a story?

What's going on in your child's brain when you read them a story?

There are many ways young children encounter stories. A new study finds a "Goldilocks effect," where a cartoon may be "too hot" and audiobooks "too cold" for learning readers.
by Anya Kamenetz

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In '84K,' every life -- and every death -- has a price

In '84K,' every life -- and every death -- has a price

Claire North's new gut-punch of a novel takes place in a dystopian world where one monster corporation controls England, every service is privatized, and every life has been assigned a monetary value.
by Jason Sheehan

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