The Thread® - Books and 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.

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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.

January 5, 2017 9:21 AM

Roxane Gay on good men, bad men and 'Difficult Women'

Gay's new short story collection explores women's lives and issues of race, class and sex. But she says the book could easily have been called "Difficult Men."

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January 4, 2017 1:53 PM

How's your relationship with money?

Claudia Hammond's new book, "Mind Over Money," looks at the psychology of how we relate to money.

by MPR News Staff

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January 4, 2017 10:35 AM

A survival guide to Colonial cocktails (so you don't die drinking them)

Colonists in the New World experimented with new and unfamiliar ingredients. The results were Lambswool, Ass's Milk and other innovative drinks, some of which could kill you.

by Kristen Hartke

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January 4, 2017 8:45 AM

'The Strays' invites you to a disturbing, magical world

Emily Bitto's new novel is set in the overheated avant-garde art scene of Depression-era Melbourne, where two girls -- conventional Lily and sharp-tongued, exotic Eva -- form a complicated bond.

by Jean Zimmerman

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January 3, 2017 3:41 PM

'The Unnatural World': How innovation could reshape the environment

David Biello's new book looks at how technological innovations could rewrite our environmental future.

by MPR News Staff

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January 3, 2017 8:30 AM

Beautiful, icy 'History Of Wolves' transcends genre

Emily Fridlund's electrifying debut novel 'History of Wolves' is a contemporary coming-of-age story about a young woman -- but it avoids the familiar story arc so common to other novels in that genre.

by Michael Schaub

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January 2, 2017 12:00 AM

Adopting a sci-fi way of thinking about the future

Jan. 2 is the birthday of scientist Isaac Asimov, who advocated for adopting a long view. So, today, let's think about not just 2017, but the possible futures of 2067 and 3017, says Tania Lombrozo.

by Tania Lombrozo