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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.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

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. 

Love and cruelty are bound together in 'My Absolute Darling'

Love and cruelty are bound together in 'My Absolute Darling'

Gabriel Tallent's debut novel has been called a masterpiece on the level of 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' It's the difficult story of a young girl living in the California woods with her abusive father.

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For 'Jaws' fans, a look at what it's really like to hunt a shark

For 'Jaws' fans, a look at what it's really like to hunt a shark

Bookseller Molly Coogan works not far from where "Jaws" was filmed. Her reading recommendation is right on theme, "even if you missed Shark Week."
by Tracy Mumford

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The brief, tumultuous reign of an erstwhile best-seller

The brief, tumultuous reign of an erstwhile best-seller

For a while Thursday, Lani Sarem's debut, 'Handbook for Mortals,' stood as the reigning best-seller in young adult literature. Within hours, it had been removed from the list entirely. What happened?
by Colin Dwyer

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What science 'gone wrong' can teach us

What science 'gone wrong' can teach us

Pandora's Lab stresses that for science to work, it needs to base claims on data, studies need to be replicable, and scientists must be more attached to science than to their own ideas, says Alva Noe.
by Alva Noë

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'Shooting Ghosts' chronicles war's aftereffects in words and photos

'Shooting Ghosts' chronicles war's aftereffects in words and photos

Marine Sgt. TJ Brennan suffered from memory loss after being injured by a grenade in Afghanistan in 2010. Finbarr O'Reilly captured the event on film. Now the two men have written a memoir.
by Dave Davies

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Four ways to improve your life through nonfiction

Four ways to improve your life through nonfiction

A new stack of nonfiction offers tips on everything from workplace etiquette to catching more Z's. Dive in for life advice.
by Stephanie Curtis

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Books become a bridge out of grief in 'The Futilitarians'

Books become a bridge out of grief in 'The Futilitarians'

Anne Gisleson was reeling from a series of family tragedies when she began meeting with friends to discuss books and life in post-Katrina New Orleans. Her new book chronicles a year of those meetings.
by Jason Heller

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Editorial cartoonist Steve Sack on 36 years of commentary, caricature

Editorial cartoonist Steve Sack on 36 years of commentary, caricature

Pulitzer-Prize winning cartoonist Steve Sack has captured six presidents as well as countless governors, senators and representatives in his career. His new book is a look back at political history, in caricature.
by Tom Weber and MPR News Staff

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The backstories of the books you loved growing up

The backstories of the books you loved growing up

Bruce Handy's new book takes an emotional, intuitive look at the world of children's books, from 'Goodnight Moon' to 'Charlotte's Web,' which he calls 'a mastery novel of ideas' about life and death.
by Annalisa Quinn

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In 'The Stone Sky,' some worlds need to burn

In 'The Stone Sky,' some worlds need to burn

N.K. Jemisin won Hugo Awards for the first two volumes of her Broken Earth trilogy. 'The Stone Sky' is a powerful, timely finale to this story of a world built on oppression and exploitation.
by Amal El- Mohtar

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