The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other 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.

March 15, 2016 1:45 PM

'Indentured': On the mistreatment of college athletes

"All the adults are getting rich, and yet the athletes get nothing," said Joe Nocera, a sports business columnist for the New York Times. "To me, that is fundamentally exploitative and wrong."

by MPR News Staff

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March 15, 2016 12:28 PM

10 words turning 40 in 2016

Mental Floss has compiled a list of words and phrases that entered our language in 1976. Chicken nugget, anyone?

by Tracy Mumford

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March 15, 2016 9:16 AM

A book inspired by the real story of Johnny Appleseed

Best known for "Girl with a Pearl Earring," Tracy Chevalier has new book about a pioneer family growing apple trees in Ohio.

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March 14, 2016 10:13 AM

History's great minds and the foods that fueled them

From Pythagoras to Balzac, Darwin to Marie Curie, many a genius had some very peculiar dining habits.

by Eric Weiner

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March 14, 2016 1:00 AM

Bravery among the ruins in 'Noonday'

Pat Barker's latest novel completes the trilogy she began with "Life Class." Her first foray into the World War II era is rich with evocative language, though it occasionally verges on soap opera.

by Jean Zimmerman

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March 12, 2016 6:00 AM

Mankato cookbook gets credit for first hot dish recipe

Food & Wine's January edition credits a 1930 cookbook from Mankato's Grace Lutheran congregation with a first printed recipe for the iconic Midwestern food.

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March 12, 2016 12:00 AM

This 'Menagerie' is full of fierce feeling

Ken Liu's new "The Paper Menagerie" collects 15 of his Hugo and Nebula Award-winning stories. Critic Amal El-Mohtar calls it "stupendously good work" that strikes chords profound enough to hurt.

by Amal El-Mohtar

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March 11, 2016 2:51 PM

'Streetfight': How American streets can change for the better

Countries around the world are making significant investments in bike-friendly and pedestrian-friendly streets. Can the U.S. keep up? Janette Sadik-Khan, author of 'Streetfight,' shares her ideas.

by MPR News Staff

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March 11, 2016 9:14 AM

Publishing heavyweights petition White House, Congress to end Cuba book embargo

The petition, which comes just before President Obama's historic visit to the island nation, says the embargo is "harmful to book culture" and "counter to American ideals of free expression."