The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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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.

February 20, 2017 5:54 PM

Publisher cancels Milo Yiannopoulos book 'Dangerous'

The announcement came hours after the Breitbart editor was disinvited to this year's Conservative Political Action Conference because of past comments about relationships between boys and men.

by The Associated Press

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February 20, 2017 1:04 PM

The Mall of America is looking for a writer-in-residence

To mark its 25th anniversary, the mall is looking for a writer who will spend five days immersed in the mall, and live to write about it.

by Tracy Mumford

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February 20, 2017 8:43 AM

Can poetry keep you young? Science is still out, but the heart says yes

Scientific evidence showing health benefits from engaging in the arts is still weak. But Los Angeles students in their 80s say their poetry class gives them joy, solace, community and a voice.

by Ina Jaffe

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February 18, 2017 6:00 AM

'The New Jim Crow' and 'The Communist Manifesto': Best-sellers in the age of Trump

Rhode Island bookstore owner Anne Marie Keohane said her customers' reading tastes seemed to change overnight, after the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

by Tracy Mumford

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February 17, 2017 1:12 PM

Octavia Butler's 'Kindred' gets a graphic novel adaptation

In the classic novel, a woman is transported back to antebellum Maryland, onto the plantation where her ancestors lived.

by Tracy Mumford

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February 17, 2017 6:41 AM

'Ghachar Ghochar' presents a fretful vision of Indian class anxiety

The narrator of Vivek Shanbhag's new novel once lived a lower-class subsistence in Bangalore. Critic Maureen Corrigan says "Ghachar Ghochar" embodies the "fear of falling into economic and moral ruin."

by Maureen Corrigan

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February 15, 2017 4:21 PM

Got a tattoo? Get a personalized book recommendation

Last summer, librarians in Portland, Ore., started giving out personal book recommendations based on readers' tattoos. Other libraries around the country are now picking up the practice.

by Tracy Mumford