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The Thread® - Books and Literary 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. 

The 2017 National Book Award winners

The 2017 National Book Award winners

For Jesmyn Ward, who won the fiction prize for "Sing, Unburied, Sing," it was her second National Book Award.
by Colin Dwyer

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'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' is a call to action

'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' is a call to action

In 2014, British journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote a blog post about how tired she was of engaging with oblivious white people about race. That post went viral, and it's now the basis for her new book.
by Silvia Viñas

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Um, uh, huh? Are these words clues to understanding human language?

Um, uh, huh? Are these words clues to understanding human language?

Tiny filler words in human rapid-fire conversation hold the key to understanding how language is unique, according to a new book. But anthropologist Barbara J. King raises some questions.
by Barbara J. King

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A book on 'Bunk' for our post-truth times

A book on 'Bunk' for our post-truth times

Poet and critic Kevin Young attempts to make sense of a worsening surge in hoaxes -- from plagiarism to fake news -- in a new deeply researched history.
by Michel Martin

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A road trip novel that dredges up the past

A road trip novel that dredges up the past

"Jesmyn Ward is a genius," said bookseller Melanie McNair. "The whole time I was reading it, I kept thinking: How is she doing this?"
by Tracy Mumford

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In new novel, 'Martian' author Andy Weir builds a colony on the moon

In new novel, 'Martian' author Andy Weir builds a colony on the moon

"Artemis" imagines the first moon settlement as a mining town and tourist trap. "I had a lot of fun doing the world building," Weir says.

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'Annotated African American Folktales' reclaims stories passed down from slavery

'Annotated African American Folktales' reclaims stories passed down from slavery

The new anthology, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Maria Tatar, aims to make century-old stories -- of flying Africans, quizzical animals and even Uncle Remus -- available to new generations.
by Robert Siegel

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A rare find: Trailblazing female designer's unpublished family cookbook

Magazine art director Cipe Pineles helped pave the way for creative women in publishing. She also illustrated her mother's Eastern European recipes, but for 70 years the manuscript lay undiscovered.

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'This Mortal Coil' will get you all twisted up

'This Mortal Coil' will get you all twisted up

Emily Suvada's debut novel -- a high-tech young adult dystopia -- is bursting with ideas (and exploding viruses). And while it might seem like a conventional thriller, it's got a twist to reckon with.
by Amal El-Mohtar

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