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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.

Looping, twisting 'Number 11' may be the perfect book for our time

Looping, twisting 'Number 11' may be the perfect book for our time

Jonathan Coe's new novel is a black-hearted satire about the crumbling of modern Britain, and the point at which childhood gives way to a cold assessment of the world as it is, not as we dream it.
by Jason Sheehan

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With wisdom, humor and regret, an 85-year-old takes a walk

With wisdom, humor and regret, an 85-year-old takes a walk

Bookseller Jenny Lyons says "Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk" is a beautiful escape of a novel, and that you'll fall in love with the heroine after only a chapter.
by Tracy Mumford

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An interview with Marlon James: Details on his new fantasy trilogy

An interview with Marlon James: Details on his new fantasy trilogy

His new "Dark Star" trilogy has been called the "African 'Game of Thrones,'" but author Marlon James says it has more in common with the classic film "Rashomon."
by Tracy Mumford

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Roxane Gay pulls book, protesting Breitbart editor's 'egregious' book deal

Roxane Gay pulls book, protesting Breitbart editor's 'egregious' book deal

When she realized her book was on an imprint of Simon & Schuster, which is also publishing controversial conservative Milo Yiannopoulos, "I just couldn't bring myself to turn the book in," Gay said.
by Colin Dwyer

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The Black Panther, at odds with himself and his country in 'A Nation Under Our Feet'

The Black Panther, at odds with himself and his country in 'A Nation Under Our Feet'

Ta-Nehisi Coates continues his tangled, philosophical (and big-selling) superhero tale with 'Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet.' Coates' storytelling resonates, but his character can often ramble.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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'The Bear and the Nightingale' is a rich winter's tale

'The Bear and the Nightingale' is a rich winter's tale

Katherine Arden's new novel deftly weaves Russian fairy tales with tactile details to create a gorgeously wintry tale of magic, marred slightly by a clunky ending that's clearly setting up sequels.
by Amal El-Mohtar

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'A Really Good Day' recaps a month-long adventure of microdosing LSD

'A Really Good Day' recaps a month-long adventure of microdosing LSD

Ayelet Waldman's new memoir describes her experiences with a variant of bipolar disorder, and her attempts to self-medicate with LSD. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls it a "gutsy ... really good story."
by Maureen Corrigan

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