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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.

'Locally Laid': The story of a very plucky chicken farm

'Locally Laid': The story of a very plucky chicken farm

The Amundsens went from keeping five chickens in their backyard in northern Minnesota to opening a 2,000-bird egg farm. Things didn't always go smoothly.
by Tracy Mumford

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The modern science of love

The modern science of love

What do your brainwaves look like when you're in love? What's the science behind hooking up? Anthropologist Helen Fisher discusses love in the modern age.
by MPR News Staff

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How to spice up historical fiction? Just add dragons

How to spice up historical fiction? Just add dragons

Before her first book, Naomi Novik was a programmer who wrote Napoleonic-era fan fiction on the side. Then she had an idea: "What could make the Napoleonic wars more exciting? Dragons!"
by Ravenna Koenig

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Written behind bars, this 1850s memoir links prisons to plantations

Written behind bars, this 1850s memoir links prisons to plantations

"The Life and the Adventures of a Haunted Convict" is the earliest known prison memoir by an African-American writer. Written by Austin Reed in the 1850s, it was discovered at an estate sale in 2009.
by Lynn Neary

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A South Carolina memoir to pair with the news

For a book that pairs well with the analysis of the Democratic primary results in South Carolina, Kerri Miller recommends a memoir from one of the Palmetto State's favorite sons.
by Kerri Miller

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Simon & Schuster launches imprint for Muslim children's books

Simon & Schuster launches imprint for Muslim children's books

The books published by Salaam Reads will appeal to Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike, executive editor Zareej Jaffery says -- and will represent a wide range of cultural traditions within Islam.

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Experts to probe death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda

Experts to probe death of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda

Chile's government said in 2015 that "it's clearly possible and highly probable that a third party" was involved in Neruda's death, although it warned that more tests needed to be carried out.
by The Associated Press

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Obama nominates Carla Hayden to lead Library of Congress

Obama nominates Carla Hayden to lead Library of Congress

Hayden is a former president of the American Library Association and is currently CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore.
by Elizabeth Blair

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