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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 Apparitionists' raises the specters that haunted America

'The Apparitionists' raises the specters that haunted America

Peter Manseau skillfully weaves together spirituality, technology and the legacy of the Civil War to tell the story of a "spirit photographer" on trial for claiming he could take pictures of ghosts.
by Genevieve Valentine

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In 'This Blessed Earth,' the outdated romance of the family farm

In 'This Blessed Earth,' the outdated romance of the family farm

Journalist Ted Genoways spent a year on a small farm in rural Nebraska, and he says American nostalgia for the family farm overlooks the pressures farmers face and the realities of food production.
by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

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Poet Rupi Kaur: 'Art should be accessible to the masses'

Poet Rupi Kaur: 'Art should be accessible to the masses'

Rupi Kaur came to Canada from India when she was four years old and didn't learn English well for years; she says her raw, minimalist poems are tailored for readers like her, with limited English.
by Rachel Martin and Alyssa Edes

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In 1960s New York, witchy women learn 'The Rules of Magic'

In 1960s New York, witchy women learn 'The Rules of Magic'

In Alice Hoffman's prequel to "Practical Magic," two sisters uncover their family's supernatural gifts and curses while growing up in the city.
by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

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A 'hypnotic,' 'pointillistic' novel

A 'hypnotic,' 'pointillistic' novel

David Enyeart recommends a new novel by British writer Jon McGregor: "He's not very well known in this country yet, but I think he certainly will be."
by Tracy Mumford

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You're going to hate 'TheMystery.doc,' and that's OK

You're going to hate 'TheMystery.doc,' and that's OK

Matthew McIntosh's fractured and fracturing 1,600-page tale of a writer with amnesia and a missing manuscript isn't fun, and it probably isn't supposed to be. But it is magnificently weird.
by Jason Sheehan

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'Unkindness Of Ghosts' transposes the plantation's cruelty to the stars

'Unkindness Of Ghosts' transposes the plantation's cruelty to the stars

Rivers Solomon's novel is set on a giant generation ship, on an interstellar voyage of centuries, divided between the wealthy, light-skinned upper-deckers and the oppressed, laboring lower-deckers.
by Amal El-Mohtar

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Dr. Seuss museum to replace mural after complaints of racism

Three authors said they would boycott an event at the Massachusetts museum due to the "jarring racial stereotype" of a Chinese character from one of his books.
by The Associated Press

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Thread Book Hour: Jacqueline Woodson 'Talking Volumes'

Thread Book Hour: Jacqueline Woodson 'Talking Volumes'

A conversation with Jacqueline Woodson, author of "Another Brooklyn" and "Brown Girl Dreaming."
by MPR News Staff

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Seven of the most haunted houses in literature

Seven of the most haunted houses in literature

What's your favorite haunted house in fiction? Where would you never spend the night? The Thread looks at some of the most nightmarish literary locales.
by Tracy Mumford

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