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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.

Bobak Ferdowsi on what drives us to explore

Bobak Ferdowsi on what drives us to explore

Bobak Ferdowsi, and his hair, found fame when he helped land a rover on Mars. He shares how legendary sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke shaped his thinking.
by MPR News Staff

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What if Romeo and Juliet didn't have to die?

What if Romeo and Juliet didn't have to die?

What if Romeo and Juliet had lived? In Ryan North's new "chooseable-path adventure" about Romeo and Juliet, you can make sure the two never meet -- or have them take over Verona in giant robot suits.

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The future of Cuban sci-fi is 'Super Extra Grande'

The future of Cuban sci-fi is 'Super Extra Grande'

In "Super Extra Grande," Cuban sci-fi author Yoss imagines a world where faster-than-light travel has brought humanity into contact with a vast array of strange and marvelous intergalactic creatures.
by Juan Vidal

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Annie Proulx's bloody new novel 'Barkskins' is about more deforestation

Annie Proulx's bloody new novel 'Barkskins' is about more deforestation

"Barkskins" follows two loggers' stories over three centuries. Proulx says the forest is the hero of her book, but it's also "one facet of larger things, like climate change and the melting of the ice."

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A wry, warm look at the indignities of aging

A wry, warm look at the indignities of aging

Cathleen Schine's new novel stars that literary rarity: a functional family. But matriarch Joy is struggling; her husband is ailing and her worried children don't like seeing their parents' decline.
by Heller McAlpin

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'Smarter Faster Better': Understanding productivity

'Smarter Faster Better': Understanding productivity

The bestselling author of 'The Power of Habit' returns with new insights on the way we get things done.
by MPR News Staff

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The 'Take It to the Lake' summer fiction series

The 'Take It to the Lake' summer fiction series

From psychological thrillers to spies stories to complicated coming-of-age tales, here's The Thread's summer reading list.
by MPR News Staff

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'Infomocracy' is a sci-fi thriller with election year chills

'Infomocracy' is a sci-fi thriller with election year chills

Malka Older's new book takes place at the end of the 21st century, in a future where the game of politics has become more streamlined -- but infinitely more complex and terrifying.
by Jason Heller

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