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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

'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A rare find: Trailblazing female designer's unpublished family cookbook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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Photographer Pete Souza reflects on 8 years (and 1.9 million photos) of Obama

Photographer Pete Souza reflects on 8 years (and 1.9 million photos) of Obama

As the chief official White House photographer for President Obama, Souza sometimes shot more than 2,000 photos a day. "I was there all the time," he says. His new book is "Obama: An Intimate Portrait."
by Terry Gross

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'Radio Free Vermont' offers a modest proposal for resistance

'Radio Free Vermont' offers a modest proposal for resistance

Activist Bill McKibben answers his own call for topical fiction with "Radio Free Vermont," a gently surreal tale about a septuagenarian troublemaker who inadvertently sparks a secession movement.
by Jason Heller

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Baby's got mail: Free books boost early literacy

Baby's got mail: Free books boost early literacy

A simple, scalable way to reach kids before they enter school: You sign up and get a free book in the mail every month until your child turns 5.
by Maureen Pao

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'Invisible No More' examines police violence against minority women

'Invisible No More' examines police violence against minority women

Author Andrea Ritchie wants the incidents of police violence involving women of color and transgender women to get as much attention as black men and boys have received in recent years.
by Cheryl Corley

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In 'Bonfire,' Krysten Ritter digs up dirt both environmental and emotional

In 'Bonfire,' Krysten Ritter digs up dirt both environmental and emotional

The heroine of Ritter's new novel doesn't want to come home and face her dark secrets. Ritter says putting "messy women" on screen and on the page can help real women deal with their own issues.
by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

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'Mad Men' creator says writing a novel is nothing like TV writing

'Mad Men' creator says writing a novel is nothing like TV writing

Matthew Weiner's first novel is "Heather, the Totality." It's a character study of a well-to-do New York family -- and a violence-prone construction worker who becomes obsessed with their daughter.
by Lynn Neary

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