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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread from MPR News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread 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 every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Find reviews for new releases, as well as hidden gems you may have missed.

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. 

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer. 

China seizes publisher of banned books again -- just months after releasing him

China seizes publisher of banned books again -- just months after releasing him

Gui Minhai, a Hong Kong-based bookseller with Swedish citizenship, was on a train to Beijing for medical treatment when police detained him. Now, Swedish authorities are demanding answers.
by Colin Dwyer

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Ursula K. Le Guin, whose novels plucked truth from high fantasy, dies at 88

Ursula K. Le Guin, whose novels plucked truth from high fantasy, dies at 88

The novelist, best known for works such as the Earthsea series and "The Left Hand of Darkness," used her fantastic realms to grapple with difficult themes. And she kept working until her death.
by Colin Dwyer

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'The Friend' is no shaggy dog story

'The Friend' is no shaggy dog story

Sigrid Nunez's new novel follows a woman mourning the suicide of a close friend, mentor and fellow writer -- and the upheaval after she reluctantly takes in his huge, bereft (and smelly) Great Dane.
by Heller McAlpin

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What does it really take to be a writer?

What does it really take to be a writer?

Bookseller Lacy Simons recommends a novel about a writer who decides the key to her success will be to never have children -- but her plan is challenged.
by Tracy Mumford

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In 'Heartland,' writer's block can be murder

In 'Heartland,' writer's block can be murder

Ana Simo's brash and unsettling debut novel straddles the line between pulp noir and slapstick; it's the story of a struggling writer who decides that murder is the cure for her decade-long block.
by Juan Vidal

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