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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.

The books that have shaped American life

The books that have shaped American life

The Library of Congress just opened a new exhibit highlighting 65 books that it says have shaped the country.
by Tracy Mumford

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How an 1886 crime novel became a global publishing phenomenon

How an 1886 crime novel became a global publishing phenomenon

Lucy Sussex's new book is a history of 1886's runaway bestseller: "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab." Why was it such a hit? Who was involved with it? And why was author Fergus Hume left without a dime?
by Genevieve Valentine

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'The Mandibles' is financial dystopia with a bite

'The Mandibles' is financial dystopia with a bite

Lionel Shriver's newest novel is a work of speculative fiction: A national debt crisis leads to a systematic civil breakdown, bringing a once-prosperous family

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Michael Herr, Vietnam War reporter, dies at 76

The New York Times wrote Herr's book "Dispatches" was "a certain kind of reporting come of age ... scaled of abstractions down to the viscera, the violence and the sexuality understood and transcended. Stunning."
by Rose Friedman

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A metaphysical thriller with a dash of dangerous politics

A metaphysical thriller with a dash of dangerous politics

Lydia Millet's new novel follows a woman fleeing her husband, who has his eye on a state legislative seat. With her daughter in tow, she crosses the continent from Alaska to Maine and holes up in a remote hotel.
by MPR News Staff

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The case for 1971 as rock's greatest year

The case for 1971 as rock's greatest year

That year, music journalist David Hepworth argues, offered an explosion of talent from David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Al Green, John Lennon and more. He discusses his new book, "Never a Dull Moment."

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'Devil's Rock' is an atmospheric, gut-twisting descent

'Devil's Rock' is an atmospheric, gut-twisting descent

Things are not what they seem in Paul Tremblay's new novel: A simple search for a missing child becomes a dizzying emotional vortex as ominous new details and old tragedies surface.
by Jason Heller

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'We were there': Joy Harjo on the forgotten origins of jazz

'We were there': Joy Harjo on the forgotten origins of jazz

Author Joy Harjo's new play, which is still in progress, explores the origins of American music and how Native Americans have been left out of the story.
by MPR News Staff

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A revolution in book reviews: The 'Rotten Tomatoes for books'

A revolution in book reviews: The 'Rotten Tomatoes for books'

Lit Hub has launched a new book review aggregation site, which pulls together reviews from 70 sources and gives books an average grade: A, B, C, D or F.
by Tracy Mumford

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