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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.

Talking Volumes 2016 season guide

Talking Volumes 2016 season guide

The 16th season of Talking Volumes includes interviews with Elizabeth Alexander, Carl Hiaasen, Gloria Steinem, Ann Patchett and Colson Whitehead.
by MPR News Staff

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Creator of 'Fargo' TV show crafts one of the year's best suspense novels

Creator of 'Fargo' TV show crafts one of the year's best suspense novels

Noah Hawley's new novel centers on a private jet carrying a group of wealthy and powerful people that crashes into the Atlantic. But the crash is only the beginning.
by MPR News Staff

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'Nobody is immune': Bracing for Zika's first summer in the U.S.

'Nobody is immune': Bracing for Zika's first summer in the U.S.

Author Donald. G. McNeil Jr. predicts that 2016 will be the worst year for Zika transmission in the U.S. "After this year, a fair number of people will be immune, and ... immunity will grow," he says.

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New book gathers stories of young Minnesota immigrants

New book gathers stories of young Minnesota immigrants

"Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a Minneapolis High School" is made up of essays from 30 students of Minneapolis' Wellstone International High School.
by Doualy Xaykaothao

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Traveling the Oregon Trail by covered wagon, 170 years later

Traveling the Oregon Trail by covered wagon, 170 years later

Author Rinker Buck and his brother packed up a covered wagon, wrangled a team of mules, and retraced the 2,000-mile journey across the American west.
by MPR News Staff

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'The Big Sheep' plays hardboiled sci-fi to the hilt

'The Big Sheep' plays hardboiled sci-fi to the hilt

It's not hard to parse the two main influences on Robert Kroese's new novel, 'The Big Sheep': Philip K. Dick and Raymond Chandler. But Kroese's knack for humor helps elevate their gonzo grimness.
by Jason Heller

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Grief is a 'hamster wheel': How a memoir about death can still be funny

Grief is a 'hamster wheel': How a memoir about death can still be funny

In the span of seven weeks, Nora McInerny Purmort miscarried, and then watched both her father and her husband die of cancer. Her memoir tackles grief with unflinching humor and honesty.
by MPR News Staff

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Waziyatawin: Take down Fort Snelling

Waziyatawin: Take down Fort Snelling

Waziyatawin's book, 'What Does Justice Looks Like?', explores ways the state of Minnesota could make amends for its treatment of Native people.
by MPR News Staff

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Novelist Richard Wagamese steps beyond barriers

Novelist Richard Wagamese steps beyond barriers

Richard Wagamese is a well-known novelist in his native Canada, and with the re-release of two of his novels through Minneapolis publisher Milkweed Editions, he's making his mark further south.
by MPR News Staff

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Human or machine: Can you tell who wrote these poems?

Human or machine: Can you tell who wrote these poems?

Can a computer write a sonnet that's indistinguishable from what a person can produce? A contest at Dartmouth attempted to find out. With our online quiz, you too can give it a try.
by NPR Staff

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