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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.

This 'Menagerie' is full of fierce feeling

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

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

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."

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Jodzio's love of short stories animates 'Knockout'

Jodzio's love of short stories animates 'Knockout'

The Minneapolis writer likes to explore a funny thought, but then abandon it before it gets old.
by Euan Kerr

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Unnerving WWII noir in 'A Man Lies Dreaming'

Unnerving WWII noir in 'A Man Lies Dreaming'

Lavie Tidhar's new alternate history imagines a world where Communists took over Germany in 1933, Fascism is on the rise in the U.K. and a down and out German PI in London dreams of world domination.
by Jason Heller

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A reading list for fans of 'The Americans'

A reading list for fans of 'The Americans'

If you can't get enough of the Cold War spy show, these thrillers and espionage exposes will liven up your reading life.
by Tracy Mumford

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'What Is Not Yours' is flawless

'What Is Not Yours' is flawless

Helen Oyeyemi's new story collection has all the sly humor, gorgeous writing and magical characterization as her novels. Critic Michael Schaub calls it a dreamy, spellbinding masterpiece.
by Michael Schaub

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Remembering author Pat Conroy

Remembering author Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy was no stranger to incorporating his personal experience into his writing. His books covered his tumultuous and abusive childhood.

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On Ernest Hemingway's great love: His boat

On Ernest Hemingway's great love: His boat

"She had been intimately his, and he hers, for 27 years, which were his final 27 years," Paul Hendrickson writes of Pilar, the fishing vessel Hemingway docked in Cuba.

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J.K. Rowling releases new 'Magic in North America' series

J.K. Rowling releases new 'Magic in North America' series

In the first of a four-part essay series, the "Harry Potter" author delves into the previously unaddressed world of magic in North America, whetting fans' appetites ahead of new spinoff movie.

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