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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.

'Significant Zero': Inside the video game industry

'Significant Zero': Inside the video game industry

Videogame writer Walt Williams describes his Red-Bull-and-Adderal-fueled advancement in a competitive and secretive industry. Critic Jason Sheehan says the book 'plays out ... like a videogame.'
by Jason Sheehan

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A 'completely hypnotic' book to spend the afternoon with

A 'completely hypnotic' book to spend the afternoon with

"I emerged from the book and realized three hours had passed, and I was done with it," said bookseller Vanessa Martini. "I had no idea what had happened to my life."
by Tracy Mumford

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Silicon Valley's Ellen Pao tackles sex discrimination, workplace diversity in memoir

Silicon Valley's Ellen Pao tackles sex discrimination, workplace diversity in memoir

The tech investor dives into the lawsuit that thrust her into the national spotlight and the workplace conditions that prompted it. She says firms are largely applying "tepid diversity solutions."
by Mary Louise Kelly

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Novel kindles questions about family, values

Novel kindles questions about family, values

In "Little Fires Everywhere," Celeste Ng pits ideals against the realities of "messy human existence."
by Euan Kerr

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'School For Good And Evil' is a kids' fantasy series for the fake news era

'School For Good And Evil' is a kids' fantasy series for the fake news era

"Good and evil -- they mix in the world," says author Soman Chainani. "Both sides claim to be good, both sides claim to be telling the truth." His latest in the series is called 'Quests for Glory'.
by Selena Simmons-Duffin

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Move over millennials, here comes 'iGen' ... or maybe not

Move over millennials, here comes 'iGen' ... or maybe not

A new book worries that growing up with smartphones and the Internet has been harmful to a generation of kids. Critic Annalisa Quinn says intergenerational carping is a long, and unhelpful tradition.
by Annalisa Quinn

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How to make every grade more like kindergarten

How to make every grade more like kindergarten

In his new book, MIT professor Mitchel Resnick lays out a vision for encouraging creative thinking, based on his research into what he calls Lifelong Kindergarten.
by Anya Kamenetz

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