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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.

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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. 

Kazuo Ishiguro wins Nobel Prize for Literature

Kazuo Ishiguro wins Nobel Prize for Literature

The Swedish Academy cited him for "novels of great emotional force, (he) has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world."
by The Associated Press

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'Dunbar' is a moving, brutal and apt update of 'King Lear'

'Dunbar' is a moving, brutal and apt update of 'King Lear'

For centuries, Shakespeare's tragedy was too painful for audiences; it was performed with an altered happy ending. But Edward St. Aubyn has never flinched at inflicting pain on his readers.
by Annalisa Quinn

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Joe Biden writing foreword for transgender activist's memoir

Joe Biden writing foreword for transgender activist's memoir

Former Vice President Joe Biden is writing the foreword to a memoir by transgender activist Sarah McBride, who made history when she addressed the Democratic National Convention last year.
by Associated Press

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Here are the finalists for the 2017 National Book Awards

Here are the finalists for the 2017 National Book Awards

The National Book Foundation winnowed the list of contenders for its literary prize to just 20 -- or five finalists each in four categories. Among them are Jesmyn Ward, Min Jin Lee and Frank Bidart.
by Colin Dwyer

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New Muhammad Ali biography reveals a flawed rebel who loved attention

New Muhammad Ali biography reveals a flawed rebel who loved attention

"I don't think we do Ali any good by treating him as a saint," says biographer Jonathan Eig. "He was a human being, and he was deeply flawed, but ... he had the spirit of a rebel."
by Dave Davies

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On using meditation to open doors in our everyday lives

In his new book "Why Buddhism is True," Robert Wright, a visiting professor of science and religion at Union Theological Seminary, explores the relationship between science and meditation, and why meditating can help us see the world more clearly.
by Kerri Miller and Julia Franz

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Stephen and Owen King on the horror of a world without women in 'Sleeping Beauties'

Stephen and Owen King on the horror of a world without women in 'Sleeping Beauties'

What if every woman on earth went to sleep and never woke up, leaving only men to run things? That's the horror at the center of "Sleeping Beauties," the new novel from Stephen King and his son Owen.
by Mary Louise Kelly

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Jeffrey Eugenides' 'Fresh Complaint' makes for absorbing fiction

Jeffrey Eugenides' 'Fresh Complaint' makes for absorbing fiction

While they tend towards traditional rather than edgy, the stories in "Fresh Complaint" will remind readers what they like about Eugenides' writing: His sensitivity and compassion for flawed people.
by Heller McAlpin

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Getting the most out of pre-K, 'The Most Important Year' in school

Getting the most out of pre-K, 'The Most Important Year' in school

About 1.5 million 4-year-olds started preschool this fall and parents are wondering: How do I know my child is in a high-quality program? A new book offers some answers.
by Claudio Sanchez

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