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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.

Who was Joe Gould, and did he really write the world's longest book?

Who was Joe Gould, and did he really write the world's longest book?

Years ago, two New Yorker articles told the story of a Harvard dropout who claimed to be writing the longest book ever. Did he succeed? In 'Joe Gould's Teeth,' Jill Lepore tries to answer that question.

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Sherman Alexie on his new kids' book

Sherman Alexie on his new kids' book

Alexie says he always struggled with being named after his dad, so he decided to write a book about it. "Thunder Boy Jr." is about a little boy who is eager to have his own name and be his own person.

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Literary dogs and the Little Free Library Festival

Literary dogs and the Little Free Library Festival

Saturday was the first-ever Little Free Library Festival, complete with libraries on wheels and dogs competing in bookish costumes.
by Tracy Mumford

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The delicate task of restoring one of the world's oldest libraries

The delicate task of restoring one of the world's oldest libraries

After a four-year restoration, Morocco is poised to reopen the Qarawiyyin Library, founded more than a millennium ago by a pioneering woman and home to some of the earliest works of Islam.
by Leila Fadel

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Luke Burbank on coming clean

Luke Burbank on coming clean

Public radio veteran Luke Burbank is the first to admit he isn't a big reader. But he's taken a cue from Hunter S. Thompson.
by MPR News Staff

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GOP ekes out win on Library of Congress' immigration terms

GOP ekes out win on Library of Congress' immigration terms

The Library of Congress attempted to replace "illegal aliens" with "noncitizens" in subject headers, but Republicans in the House blocked the move.
by Associated Press

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'Girls On Fire' is terrifying, upsetting and beautiful

'Girls On Fire' is terrifying, upsetting and beautiful

Young adult author Robin Wasserman's new novel is definitely just for grown-ups -- it's a tangled, thrilling story of two friends gone very wrong; hard to put down, with a twist you won't see coming.
by Michael Schaub

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Five things to do at the Little Free Library Festival

Five things to do at the Little Free Library Festival

Little Free Libraries have become an international phenomenon: There are now more than 36,000 libraries in 70 countries around the world. On Saturday, the first-ever Little Free Library Festival will be held in Minneapolis.
by Tracy Mumford

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Author's boyhood fear fuels grown-up thriller

Author's boyhood fear fuels grown-up thriller

Spontaneous combustion would be scary enough, but in "The Fireman," it's contagious.
by Euan Kerr

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Exploring Shanghai and the 'Street of Eternal Happiness'

Exploring Shanghai and the 'Street of Eternal Happiness'

Shanghai is home to more than 20 million people. Rob Schmitz captures the life of the city by telling the story of just one street, and his neighbors who live there.
by MPR News Staff

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