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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.

With beauty and wonder, 'The Winged Histories' soars

With beauty and wonder, 'The Winged Histories' soars

Sofia Samatar returns to the world of her award-winning debut, "A Stranger in Olondria," with a companion tale of four women caught up in war and turmoil, trying to preserve and pass on their stories.
by Jason Heller

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A St. Patrick's poem on shamrocks and stereotypes

A St. Patrick's poem on shamrocks and stereotypes

"All that mindlessness, shouting and getting plain stocious / That isn't Irish, that's simply atrocious," writes author and Irish expatriate Frank Delaney in "Drowning the Shamrock."

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Why your middle-aged brain is not declining

Why your middle-aged brain is not declining

Faced with her own forgetfulness, former NPR correspondent and author Barbara Bradley Hagerty tried to do something about it. She's written about her efforts in "Life Reimagined."
by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

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'Indentured': On the mistreatment of college athletes

'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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10 words turning 40 in 2016

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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A book inspired by the real story of Johnny Appleseed

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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History's great minds and the foods that fueled them

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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Bravery among the ruins in 'Noonday'

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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Mankato cookbook gets credit for first hot dish recipe

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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