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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread from MPR 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. 

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer. 

'Smoke' is a gloriously murky vision of the past

'Smoke' is a gloriously murky vision of the past

Dan Vyleta's new novel imagines an alternate Victorian England where ill deeds (and even ill thoughts) are made visible by vile black Smoke; it's a marker not just of personal worth but also class.
by Jason Heller

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Who was Joe Gould, and did he really write the world's longest book?

Who was Joe Gould, and did he really write the world's longest book?

Years ago, two New Yorker articles told the story of a Harvard dropout who claimed to be writing the longest book ever. Did he succeed? In 'Joe Gould's Teeth,' Jill Lepore tries to answer that question.

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Sherman Alexie on his new kids' book

Sherman Alexie on his new kids' book

Alexie says he always struggled with being named after his dad, so he decided to write a book about it. "Thunder Boy Jr." is about a little boy who is eager to have his own name and be his own person.

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The delicate task of restoring one of the world's oldest libraries

The delicate task of restoring one of the world's oldest libraries

After a four-year restoration, Morocco is poised to reopen the Qarawiyyin Library, founded more than a millennium ago by a pioneering woman and home to some of the earliest works of Islam.
by Leila Fadel

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Luke Burbank on coming clean

Luke Burbank on coming clean

Public radio veteran Luke Burbank is the first to admit he isn't a big reader. But he's taken a cue from Hunter S. Thompson.
by MPR News Staff

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Five things to do at the Little Free Library Festival

Five things to do at the Little Free Library Festival

Little Free Libraries have become an international phenomenon: There are now more than 36,000 libraries in 70 countries around the world. On Saturday, the first-ever Little Free Library Festival will be held in Minneapolis.
by Tracy Mumford

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