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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.

In the event of attack, here's how the government plans 'to save itself'

In the event of attack, here's how the government plans 'to save itself'

In "Raven Rock," Garrett Graff describes the bunkers designed to protect U.S. leaders in the event of a catastrophe. One Cold War-era plan put the post office in charge of cataloging the dead.
by Terry Gross

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Eddie Izzard: Coming out gave me the confidence for everything else

Eddie Izzard: Coming out gave me the confidence for everything else

Fair warning: There are no actual jazz chickens in Eddie Izzard's new "Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death and Jazz Chickens." But it does provide insight into what makes the acclaimed comedian tick.
by Kelly McEvers

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Be bigger, fight harder: Roxane Gay on a lifetime of 'Hunger'

Be bigger, fight harder: Roxane Gay on a lifetime of 'Hunger'

Gay has finally written the book that she "wanted to write the least." The moment she realized she would "never want to write about fatness" was the same moment she knew this was a memoir she had to write.
by Terry Gross

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President Donald Trump, unreliable narrator

President Donald Trump, unreliable narrator

Why can't we stop reading Trump's Twitter feed? The same reason we can't put down "The Catcher In The Rye" or "Pale Fire."
by Danielle Kurtzleben

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'A project in empathy': Poems on the spot for mall shoppers

'A project in empathy': Poems on the spot for mall shoppers

Brian Sonia-Wallace on Sunday wrapped up his stint as the Mall of America's first ever artist-in-residence. He wrote about a variety of topics, from chickens and family relationships to spirituality and Dippin' Dots.
by Hannah Kangas

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Raising a chimp as part of the family

Raising a chimp as part of the family

'We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves' explores the tangled family experiment of raising a chimpanzee alongside a young girl.
by Tracy Mumford

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What if Willy Wonka was your dad? Roald Dahl's magical parenting with food

What if Willy Wonka was your dad? Roald Dahl's magical parenting with food

Food played a big role in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and Dahl's other books. His daughter remembers fanciful 'midnight feasts' and says her father used mealtime to test out new characters.
by Dan Pashman

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Thread Book Hour: Sheryl Sandberg on post-traumatic growth

Thread Book Hour: Sheryl Sandberg on post-traumatic growth

Kerri Miller's interview with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg's husband, Minneapolis native Dave Goldberg, died unexpectedly two years ago. To cope with her grief, Sandberg reached out to her friend, psychologist Adam Grant. Together, they wrote "Option B," a new book about surviving tragedy and building resiliency.
by MPR News Staff

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In 'The Chalk Artist,' a plea for real-world connection

In 'The Chalk Artist,' a plea for real-world connection

While the love story in Allegra Goodman's latest novel can seem formulaic, she captures the allure of video gaming and the tension between real-world art and literature and the fantasy worlds online.
by Heller McAlpin

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