The Thread® - Books and 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.

November 21, 2017 9:40 AM

A classics professor explains 'Why Bob Dylan Matters'

Harvard professor Richard F. Thomas teaches a popular class on the importance of Bob Dylan, and now he's turned it into a book, full of stories, personal history and the occasional comparison to Ovid.

by Jason Heller

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November 18, 2017 6:00 AM

Finding humanity in a computer lab

Bookseller Sarah Hutton recommends a novel that blends a family mystery with the story of a computer learning to be human.

by Tracy Mumford

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November 17, 2017 9:00 AM

Cartoonist Reza Farazmand walks us through some of his 'Comics for a Strange World'

NPR asked the artist behind the popular webcomic "Poorly Drawn Lines" to share the thinking behind a few of the hilariously deadpan comics from his latest book.

by Allen Peng

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November 16, 2017 9:19 AM

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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November 14, 2017 5:02 PM

What happens when evolution stops? Louise Erdrich's novel starts

Louise Erdrich began writing "Future Home of the Living God" fifteen years ago. She pulled her early manuscript out of oblivion when events began to repeat themselves.

by Kerri Miller and MPR News Staff

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November 14, 2017 12:00 AM

'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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November 13, 2017 9:35 AM

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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November 12, 2017 12:00 AM

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