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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.

'The King is Always Above the People' in more lands than one

'The King is Always Above the People' in more lands than one

Daniel Alarcon's new collection of short stories follows a young man living in a capital post-revolution and includes an Abraham Lincoln love story, set in modern-day Chicago.
by Melissa Block

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These 'Paperbacks from Hell' reflect the real-life angst of the 1970s

These 'Paperbacks from Hell' reflect the real-life angst of the 1970s

Author Grady Hendrix's new book is a celebration of the lurid horror paperbacks of the 1970s, books that gave already frightened readers an endless supply of things to fear, from jellyfish to clowns.
by Kelly McEvers

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'Ghosts of the Tsunami' examines the disaster that haunts Japan

'Ghosts of the Tsunami' examines the disaster that haunts Japan

Richard Lloyd Parry looks at the aftermath of Japan's 2011 tsunami in this brutally honest new book, which refuses to mitigate the full horror of the events with feel-good recovery stories.
by Michael Schaub

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Best fiction picks of fall

Best fiction picks of fall

Outer space. Isolated woods. Alternate worlds. Go somewhere new with our fall fiction picks.
by MPR News Staff and Tracy Mumford

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Thread Book Hour: How Amy Tan's book on writing became a memoir

Thread Book Hour: How Amy Tan's book on writing became a memoir

On this installment of The Thread Book Hour, author Amy Tan speaks with Kerri Miller about her new memoir, "Where the Past Begins."
by MPR News Staff

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'I Can't Breathe' examines modern policing and the life and death of Eric Garner

'I Can't Breathe' examines modern policing and the life and death of Eric Garner

"The reality is that Eric Garner died at the hands of a police force and a criminal justice system that were designed entirely by white people, for the most part," says journalist Matt Taibbi.
by Terry Gross

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Photographer's new book offers 'glimpse into the human side of Prince'

Photographer's new book offers 'glimpse into the human side of Prince'

Afshin Shahidi was Prince's personal photographer from 2001 to 2011. "Prince: A Private View" is a collection of photographs and recollections from Shahidi.
by MPR News Staff

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In 'Vacationland,' John Hodgman turns his pen on himself

In 'Vacationland,' John Hodgman turns his pen on himself

John Hodgman's past few books have been jokey compendiums of fake knowledge, but with Vacationland he's getting a little realer with an achingly funny chronicle of his metamorphosis into middle age.
by Jason Heller

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Khizr Khan says his faith in America is stronger than ever

Khizr Khan says his faith in America is stronger than ever

The Gold Star father who made headlines last year after he spoke at the Democratic National Convention has a new memoir, "An American Family," about growing up in Pakistan and coming to America.
by Steve Inskeep

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