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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.

'Truevine' tells the tale of 2 black albino brothers forced to work for the circus

'Truevine' tells the tale of 2 black albino brothers forced to work for the circus

For years, black children around Roanoke, Va., heard the cautionary tale of Willie and George Muse, African-American albino brothers who were kidnapped and forced to perform in a series of circuses.
by Lynn Neary

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A history of the small but mighty Dinkytown neighborhood

A history of the small but mighty Dinkytown neighborhood

It's just four blocks, nestled next to the University of Minnesota and the Mississippi River, but Dinkytown has been a center of Minneapolis' political, intellectual and cultural life for a century.

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'Body of Water': What fishing teaches us about being human

'Body of Water': What fishing teaches us about being human

Chris Dombrowski's two great passions are fishing and poetry. His new book explores the life of a legendary bonefishing guide in the Bahamas, and the wisdom the man has earned from his time at sea.
by MPR News Staff

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In 'Hag-Seed,' a gentle guide to Shakespeare's stormy island

In 'Hag-Seed,' a gentle guide to Shakespeare's stormy island

Margaret Atwood's retelling of "The Tempest" follows the exiled director of a Shakespeare festival, now reduced to putting on shows with convicts at an isolated rural prison.
by Liza Graham

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Ask a bookseller: Phinney Books in Seattle

Ask a bookseller: Phinney Books in Seattle

Tom Nissley says the hardest request he gets as a bookseller is when people say: "I want a happy book." But a newly released book fits that bill.
by Tracy Mumford

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MPR documentary 'Boy from the North Country: Bob Dylan in Minnesota'

MPR documentary 'Boy from the North Country: Bob Dylan in Minnesota'

A Minnesota Public Radio documentary celebrates Bob Dylan's life and music. It's called "Boy from the North Country: Bob Dylan in Minnesota."

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Six things not to miss at the Twin Cities Book Festival

Six things not to miss at the Twin Cities Book Festival

The festival takes over the state fairgrounds this weekend, with author events from local and national favorites, and an all-day book fair.
by Tracy Mumford

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Bob Dylan as literature? Literary Twitter loses its collective mind

Bob Dylan as literature? Literary Twitter loses its collective mind

Did the Nobel committee get tired of reading? Did they just really want to meet Bob Dylan? People unleash their snarky responses over the musician's unexpected literary honor.
by Tracy Mumford

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