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.

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.

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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.

June 1, 2016 3:07 PM

The man behind the spy: Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold is famous for betraying the American army during the Revolutionary War and defecting to the British. But the story is more complicated than what is in the textbooks, according to Nathaniel Philbrick's new book.

by MPR News Staff

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June 1, 2016 8:57 AM

From medical maggots to stench soup, 'Grunt' explores the science of warfare

When it comes to curiosity, science writer Mary Roach describes herself as someone who is "very out there." Her new book, "Grunt," looks at some scientific developments that help keep soldiers safe.

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May 31, 2016 1:05 PM

Explaining the latest literary trend: 'Grip lit'

First there was "chick lit." Now there is "grip lit": the boom of dark crime novels written by women.

by Tracy Mumford

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May 31, 2016 8:55 AM

Neil Gaiman's nonfiction, seen from the 'Cheap Seats'

Neil Gaiman is best known for his fictional creations, but he's also a prolific producer of essays, album liner notes, speeches and introductions -- now collected in "The View From the Cheap Seats."

by Jason Heller

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May 30, 2016 4:00 AM

Kevin Powell on what a woman taught him about being a man

Kevin Powell's memoir explores what it means to be a man in today's society. But, he said, he learned a lot of it from a woman: Zora Neale Hurston.

by MPR News Staff

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May 29, 2016 12:00 AM

'Sweetbitter' is a savory saga of restaurant life and love

Oysters, cocaine, fine wine, love triangles: Stephanie Danler's debut novel "Sweetbitter" follows a year in the life of a young woman working at a top-tier Manhattan restaurant.

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May 27, 2016 3:07 PM

Minneapolis' vanished history: Life on Skid Row

The edge of downtown Minneapolis now known as the Gateway District was once the city's Skid Row. A new book dives into the darker side of local history.

by MPR News Staff

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May 26, 2016 3:44 PM

UMD prof's novel lays bare America's solutions to 'Indian problem'

Linda LeGarde Grover's debut novel, "The Road Back to Sweetgrass" follows the lives of three Ojibwe women from Minnesota as they contend with federal policies that do more harm than good. She'll read from it Thursday night in Minneapolis.

by Dan Kraker

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May 26, 2016 12:00 AM

'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