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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. 

David Grann on the brutal crime America forgot

David Grann on the brutal crime America forgot

David Grann's new book, "Killers of the Flower Moon," tells the true story of the Osage Indian nation. Once the wealthiest people in the world, by the early 1920s, they were being killed off one by one.
by Tracy Mumford

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How for-profit colleges sell 'risky education' to the most vulnerable

How for-profit colleges sell 'risky education' to the most vulnerable

Tressie McMillan Cottom worked in enrollment at two for-profit colleges, but quit because she felt uncomfortable selling students an education they couldn't afford. Her new book is "Lower Ed."

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107-year-old northern Minn. woman leaves behind stories of moonshine, priests

107-year-old northern Minn. woman leaves behind stories of moonshine, priests

Elsye McGuire's early life reads like "Little House on the Prairie" -- if it were written for adults, and Pa ran an illegal moonshine still in the swamp behind his house.
by John Enger

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Tale as old as time: The dark appeal of 'Beauty and the Beast'

Tale as old as time: The dark appeal of 'Beauty and the Beast'

Disney's new live-action extravaganza is just the latest retelling of this classic fairy tale. But why do Beauty and her Beast have such a hold on us? And why are there so many versions of their tale?
by Genevieve Valentine

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If you break literature down by the numbers

If you break literature down by the numbers

Statistician Ben Blatt dumped the text of thousands of books into a database, and pulled out many revealing trends.
by Tracy Mumford

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Welcome to 'The Collapsing Empire': Questions for John Scalzi

Welcome to 'The Collapsing Empire': Questions for John Scalzi

Prolific sci-fi author John Scalzi boots up a new universe in "The Collapsing Empire." It's set in a future where far-flung humanity's ability to travel and communicate between planets is under threat.
by Petra Mayer

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A first glimpse at "The Handmaid's Tale" adaptation

A first glimpse at "The Handmaid's Tale" adaptation

Hulu released the trailer for the adaptation of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel. The full series launches on April 26.
by Tracy Mumford

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A memoir of deprivation, rain and penguins

A memoir of deprivation, rain and penguins

Nell Stevens retreated to a remote corner of the Falkland Islands in an attempt to write a novel. She came away with something better.
by Heller McAlpin

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