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.

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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.

July 20, 2016 7:16 AM

Bookstore's tweet leads to love, then marriage

In 2012, the corporate Twitter account for a bookstore in London posted a joke about Pokemon. "I'm in love," a woman responded. More tweets followed, then a date. The wedding was last weekend.

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July 19, 2016 2:36 PM

What exactly does the Librarian of Congress do?

Last week, the Senate approved Carla Hayden as the next Librarian of Congress. But what does the role entail?

by Tracy Mumford

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July 19, 2016 12:00 AM

A researcher explains 'Why Diets Make Us Fat'

If you've ever dieted but then slowly gained the weight back, what you're seeing is your brain's resistance to weight loss in action, according to author Sandra Aamodt.

by MPR News Staff

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July 18, 2016 2:37 PM

'How to Make White People Laugh': A crash course

Iranian-American comedian and filmmaker Negin Farsad said there's comedy that comes from "not being ashamed to talk about identity in a world where just the mere mention of the word 'Muslim' is considered political and heated."

by MPR News Staff

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July 17, 2016 12:00 AM

Why does Cynthia Ozick write? 'I simply must,' she says

The versatile author says that, like queens, writers are born into their profession. In her new book, 'Critics, Monsters, Fanatics, and Other Literary Essays,' she examines current and past literature.

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July 16, 2016 12:00 AM

Time catches up with us all in 'The Heavenly Table'

Donald Ray Pollock's surreal, hardscrabble new novel is set in 1917, but it could just as well be 917; his characters are all lost in time and puzzled by the pace at which the future's coming at them.

by Jason Sheehan

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July 16, 2016 12:00 AM

'Missing, Presumed' chronicles ups and downs of dating ... and detective work

At the beginning of Susie Steiner's new thriller, a detective is on a date with a man whose name she can't remember. Not long after, a well-connected university student goes missing.

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July 15, 2016 9:00 AM

Like these books? Here are 60+ things you might also like

You know that feeling when you put down a great book and all you want is more? We took 27 recent books and paired them with movies, musicals, TV shows, comics and podcasts to keep your buzz going.

by Nicole Cohen, Petra Mayer, Beth Novey and Rose Friedman

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July 15, 2016 12:00 AM

Meet the guy who has been a hero, a pirate, a 'mountain of molten lust'

Model Jason Aaron Baca has appeared on 475 romance book covers. By his tally, that's more than even Fabio. His is a story of hard work and luck in the swashbuckling, bodice-ripping world of romance.