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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. 

Do you finish books you don't like?

Do you finish books you don't like?

If you don't love a book, do you finish reading it anyway? Or do you move on and get another?
by Tracy Mumford

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The term 'graphic novel' has had a good run. We don't need it anymore

The term 'graphic novel' has had a good run. We don't need it anymore

Coined in an era when comics were considered "junk" culture, "graphic novel" is a hoary, meaningless, and often completely inaccurate term. Comics are comics; stop apologizing for them.
by Glen Weldon

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Before his name was known at all, Seuss put creatures on the wall

Before his name was known at all, Seuss put creatures on the wall

Decades before he became a beloved children's book author, Theodor Geisel (better known as Dr. Seuss) created a series of whimsical sculptures he called "Unorthodox Taxidermy."
by Jeff Lunden

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A post-election reading list

A post-election reading list

The election has left people with a lot of questions. This reading list is aimed at sharing perspectives, offering insight and building understanding.
by MPR News Staff and Tracy Mumford

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Predictions from 1996: The e-book

Predictions from 1996: The e-book

"Imagine that you're reading a book by holding just one thin, paper-like screen -- a computer, really." That was a grand new idea back in 1996, when MPR News reporter Mary Stucky looked into the future of publishing.
by Tracy Mumford

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Golden age of television? More like 'Platinum Age'

Golden age of television? More like 'Platinum Age'

Longtime Fresh Air TV critic David Bianculli's new book lays out what he calls the "Key Evolutionary Stages" in the development of the medium -- and the constant conversation we're having with it.
by Jason Heller

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Colson Whitehead, Rep. John Lewis win National Book Awards

Colson Whitehead, Rep. John Lewis win National Book Awards

Colson Whitehead's reimagining of the Underground Railroad took home the award for fiction. Rep. John Lewis, who collaborated on a graphic novel about his work with the Civil Rights movement, won in the Young People's Literature category.
by Associated Press and MPR News Staff

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What book do you wish had a sequel?

What book do you wish had a sequel?

The last page of your favorite book can be a heartbreak. What story do you wish had continued? What literary world do you wish you could revisit?
by Tracy Mumford

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'Payoff': What we don't understand about motivation

'Payoff': What we don't understand about motivation

There are some clear motivators in life: money, love, revenge. But there's more to motivation than these obvious factors, according to a new book from Dan Ariely.
by MPR News Staff

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