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The Thread® - Books and Literary 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. 

Poetry Friday: Fifth and final

Poetry Friday: Fifth and final

To celebrate National Poetry Month, The Thread is sharing a collection of poetry from local presses every Friday in April.
by MPR News Staff

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Inside the world's largest collection of Chinese menus

Inside the world's largest collection of Chinese menus

The University of Toronto acquired 10,000 Chinese menus from Harley Spiller, who began collecting them on a lark in 1981.
by Tracy Mumford

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Tracing America's 'opiate epidemic'

Tracing America's 'opiate epidemic'

This epidemic is different than the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s and early 1990s, said author Sam Quinones. His book "Dreamland" explores the roots of the issue.
by MPR News Staff

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Novel casts fresh light on Shakespeare's 'dark lady'

Novel casts fresh light on Shakespeare's 'dark lady'

Mary Sharratt's novel imagines how the bard might have been influenced by a literary peer ... who happens to have been a woman.
by Euan Kerr

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Questlove on Prince, doo-wop and the food equivalent of the 'Mona Lisa'

Questlove on Prince, doo-wop and the food equivalent of the 'Mona Lisa'

In his new book, "somethingtofoodabout," The Roots' drummer discusses the artistry involved in creating a great meal. "I'm more obsessed with the journey ... than the destination," Questlove says.

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Editor of Bangladesh's only LGBT magazine is hacked to death

Editor of Bangladesh's only LGBT magazine is hacked to death

The killings of gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend are the latest in a recent string of grisly attacks in the country.
by Lauren Hodges

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The fate of Prince's memoir is uncertain

The fate of Prince's memoir is uncertain

Prince announced just last month that he was working on a memoir to be published in 2017. Rolling Stone called it "one of the most anticipated memoirs in music history."
by Tracy Mumford

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'Sleeping Giants' kicks off a new series in style

'Sleeping Giants' kicks off a new series in style

Sylvain Neuvel's debut begins with a young girl who falls into a hole in the ground and is found soon after, sitting on a 20-foot-long mechanical hand. And that's just the (finger) tip of the iceberg.
by Jason Heller

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As I Lay Trying: How to read William Faulkner

As I Lay Trying: How to read William Faulkner

"Believe me, when it comes to finding Faulkner difficult, we've all been there," writes Christopher Rieger, director of the Center for Faulkner Studies at Southeast Missouri State University.
by MPR News Staff

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A great American novel about a great American crisis

A great American novel about a great American crisis

Angela Flournoy's debut novel, "The Turner House," follows the fate of a family home on Detroit's East Side during the foreclosure crisis in 2008. The book was a finalist for the National Book Award.
by MPR News Staff

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