The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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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.

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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.

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer.

March 31, 2016 12:03 PM

'The Violet Hour': How famous writers confronted death

Katie Roiphe's new book explores how influential thinkers like Susan Sontag, Sigmund Freud and Maurice Sendak spent their final hours.

by MPR News Staff

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March 31, 2016 9:01 AM

Two new books tear down 'Fat Girl' stereotypes

Authors Sarai Walker and Mona Awad were tired of the way fat characters were -- and weren't -- portrayed in fiction.

by Lynn Neary

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March 29, 2016 4:51 PM

'Girls & Sex': The importance of talking to young women about pleasure

Author Peggy Orenstein says that when it comes to sexuality, girls hear that "they're supposed to be sexy, they're supposed to perform sexually for boys, but ... their sexual pleasure is unspoken."

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March 29, 2016 5:33 AM

Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton: A tale of two books

Donald Trump's first book was a memoir/manifesto about big-time negotiations. Hillary Clinton's was a call for community involvement in raising children.

by The Associated Press

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March 28, 2016 2:51 PM

On 'the art of being alone'

Being alone and being lonely are not the same thing, says author Olivia Laing. In her new book, "The Lonely City," she explores the role loneliness plays in art.

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March 28, 2016 10:02 AM

A re-imagined 'Jane Eyre,' with more murder

Lyndsay Faye's new "Jane Steele" reimagines the classic Victorian heroine as a killer with a heart of gold, who refuses to settle for her historical lot and strikes out at men who try to abuse her.

by Bethanne Patrick

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March 27, 2016 2:45 PM

Jim Harrison, 'Legends of the Fall' author, dies at 78

The author -- who wrote more than three dozen books, including the novels "Dalva" and "True North" and many collections of poetry -- found freedom in the outdoors. He died Saturday in Patagonia, Ariz.

by Tom Vitale

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March 25, 2016 7:50 AM

NRA rewrites fairy tales with more firearms, less bloodshed

The NRA is publishing a series of twists on classic tales -- picture Gretel with a rifle in the witch's gingerbread house. The stories themselves are remarkably devoid of violence.

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March 24, 2016 2:56 PM

Michael Ian Black lays it all out, insecurities and all

"When I'm acting, I always imagine myself as looking totally different than the person that appears onscreen," Black says. The comic writes about family, masculinity and vanity in his new memoir.