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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.

Pablo Neruda didn't die of cancer, experts say. So what killed the poet?

Pablo Neruda didn't die of cancer, experts say. So what killed the poet?

Official documents say the Nobel laureate died of prostate cancer in 1973. But 16 forensics experts have unanimously concluded that isn't true, stoking suspicions again that he was actually poisoned.
by Colin Dwyer

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'Beautiful Darkness': A dark story, gorgeously illustrated

'Beautiful Darkness': A dark story, gorgeously illustrated

People think working as a bookseller means you get to read at work. Not so much. Ronald Davis picked up "Beautiful Darkness" just to page through it, and ended up devouring the whole thing.
by Tracy Mumford

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For novelist John Green, OCD is like an 'invasive weed' inside his mind

For novelist John Green, OCD is like an 'invasive weed' inside his mind

"It starts out with one little thought, and then slowly that becomes the only thought that you're able to have," Green says. His new novel, "Turtles All The Way Down," is about a teenage girl with OCD.
by Terry Gross

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What does it mean to live a good life, the Ojibwe way?

What does it mean to live a good life, the Ojibwe way?

The spur for Linda LeGarde Grover's new essay collection was the birth of her seventh grandchild. She wanted to write about the important Ojibwe connection between the generations, and with the land.
by Euan Kerr

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Amnesty for little book lovers: New York City libraries erase kids' late fees

Amnesty for little book lovers: New York City libraries erase kids' late fees

On Thursday, the city's public library systems are forgiving fines on overdue materials checked out by readers age 17 and under, reopening library doors to young readers once blocked by unpaid fees.
by Colin Dwyer

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Custom-printed cocktails on the moon? 'Soonish' shows us how

Custom-printed cocktails on the moon? 'Soonish' shows us how

Zach and Kelly Weinersmith's accessible, occasionally goofy new book lays out futuristic fantasies (like matter-printed cocktails) and connects them to projects scientists are working on right now.
by Tasha Robinson

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Minnesota's Gretchen Carlson on how to confront, report and end sexual harassment

Minnesota's Gretchen Carlson on how to confront, report and end sexual harassment

Anoka native Gretchen Carlson found fame as Miss America 1989. Her name filled headlines again last summer when she sued Fox for sexual harassment. Her new book, "Be Fierce," offers practical advice for women dealing with workplace harassment.
by Tom Weber, MPR News Staff and Tracy Mumford

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Dan Buettner on the happiest places in the world

Dan Buettner on the happiest places in the world

Pleasure, purpose and pride: Those are three paths to a happy life, the author says. In his latest book, Buettner examines the places where people live the happiest lives -- Denmark, Singapore and Costa Rica -- and what sets them apart.
by MPR News Staff

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'Death in the Air' revisits 5 days when London was choked by poisonous smog

'Death in the Air' revisits 5 days when London was choked by poisonous smog

Kate Winkler Dawson's new book chronicles The Great Smog of 1952, when moist air from the Gulf Stream stalled for days over London, mixing with poisonous gases and causing more than 12,000 deaths.
by Maureen Corrigan

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