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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.

The best children's books to give this year

The best children's books to give this year

Find the perfect read for the littlest bookworms on your list.
by MPR News Staff

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75 years later, F. Scott Fitzgerald shines on

75 years later, F. Scott Fitzgerald shines on

The bard of America's Jazz Age died 75 years ago today, but his work is as popular as ever.
by Juan Vidal

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The story of the hidden bootlegger's manual

The story of the hidden bootlegger's manual

The book's outside cover boasted poems by a disgraced writer. But inside were page after page of handwritten recipes for alcohol -- the secretly preserved know-how of a Prohibition-era doctor.
by Angus Chen

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5 books to read to better understand Islam

5 books to read to better understand Islam

From the history of the Quran to a biography of the prophet Muhammad, these books answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Islam.
by MPR News Staff

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7 things you didn't know about Jane Austen

7 things you didn't know about Jane Austen

Dec. 16 marks the 240th birthday of the famous author, who left behind six finished novels and many mysteries.
by Tracy Mumford

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Inside the presidency of George H.W. Bush

Inside the presidency of George H.W. Bush

Jon Meacham's new biography of the 41st president draws on diaries that Bush recorded during his time in office.
by MPR News Staff

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A historian traces our evolving relationship with the dead

A historian traces our evolving relationship with the dead

Thomas Laqueur, author of "The Work of the Dead," discusses the ways people have dealt with human remains over the course of history. Modern cemeteries, he says, are byproducts of the French Revolution.

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Neil Gaiman on returning to 'Sandman' and the power of comics

Neil Gaiman on returning to 'Sandman' and the power of comics

Twenty-five years after he initially created Sandman, Gaiman returns to one of his most enduring characters. Gaiman says writing "The Sandman: Overture" was "the most intense period of my life."

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