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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.

Faith, sex and the South intersect in 'Virgin'

Faith, sex and the South intersect in 'Virgin'

April Ayers Lawson's debut story collection features young, often sheltered characters struggling with intimacy in a world where ordinary uncertainties are amplified by a fundamentalist upbringing.
by Heller McAlpin

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A harrowing tale of Cold War escape in 'The Tunnels'

A harrowing tale of Cold War escape in 'The Tunnels'

A new book explores a time in the early 1960s when two groups of diggers built tunnels under the Berlin Wall that were filmed and financed by U.S. television networks.

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'Ghostland' gets at the truth behind haunted houses

'Ghostland' gets at the truth behind haunted houses

Colin Dickey traveled to some of the country's most haunted places, from the Winchester Mystery House to Civil War battlefields, to investigate what gives rise to ghost stories.
by Tracy Mumford

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Ask a bookseller: Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Ask a bookseller: Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The owner of the Literati Bookstore recommends a book that traces the aftermath of a marketplace bombing in northern India: "It explores the indiscriminate nature of terror, which is extremely timely today."
by Tracy Mumford

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'Certain Dark Things' is a compelling new take on vampires

'Certain Dark Things' is a compelling new take on vampires

Silvia Moreno-Garcia's new novel is set in a realistic, multidimensional Mexico City, where a young human boy meets a mysterious girl and gets caught up in a whirlwind of vampire-gang drug wars.
by Amal El-Mohtar

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Glennon Doyle Melton on becoming a 'Love Warrior'

Glennon Doyle Melton on becoming a 'Love Warrior'

The writer behind the popular Momastery blog leaves nothing back in her memoir on parenting, her marriage and her mental health.
by MPR News Staff

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Mary Oliver issues a full-throated spiritual autobiography in 'Upstream'

Mary Oliver issues a full-throated spiritual autobiography in 'Upstream'

Oliver's latest collection of essays reflect the author's passion for nature and literature. Critic Maureen Corrigan says Upstream presents a portrait of a visionary poet -- and a "tough old broad."
by Maureen Corrigan

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'The Smaller Evil' dives into the dark plot of a cult-like retreat

'The Smaller Evil' dives into the dark plot of a cult-like retreat

Stephanie Kuehn's childhood taste for horror novels and her doctorate in clinical psychology both get put to work in her new mind-bending YA thriller.
by MPR News Staff

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Wayne Gretzky on hockey history, dreaming big and Canadian pride

Wayne Gretzky on hockey history, dreaming big and Canadian pride

The ice hockey legend marks the 99th anniversary of the NHL with his new book "99: Stories of the Game." Never mind the sport's tough guy reputation; "the game of hockey is an art," Gretzky says.

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