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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread 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 every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Find reviews for new releases, as well as hidden gems you may have missed.

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. 

Exhibition delves below deceptively simple surface of Hemingway's prose

Exhibition delves below deceptively simple surface of Hemingway's prose

A collection of first drafts, letters, outtakes and photos on display in New York City illuminate the inner workings of Ernest Hemingway's meticulous writing process -- failures, flaws and all.
by Tom Vitale

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Dance, sing, just 'keep moving,' Dick Van Dyke tells seniors

Dance, sing, just 'keep moving,' Dick Van Dyke tells seniors

Though he seems to be ageless, the star turns 90 next month. To help mark the occasion he's published a new book with tips on how to stay young.

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'Thirteen Ways' lifts darkness through storytelling

'Thirteen Ways' lifts darkness through storytelling

Colum McCann's latest book, "Thirteen Ways of Looking," takes on parenthood, loss and just how arbitrary life can be. McCann says talking about traumatic experiences can be "a fantastic catharsis."

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'Required reading': Ta-Nehisi Coates on race and racism

'Required reading': Ta-Nehisi Coates on race and racism

MacArthur "genius" grant recipient Ta-Nehisi Coates is at the top of the bestseller list with "Between the World and Me," but his earlier magazine writing should not be missed.
by Kerri Miller

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Books on the big screen: Fall movies based on books

Books on the big screen: Fall movies based on books

Hollywood's been using its library card this season -- the fall movie line-up is packed with literary adaptations.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Lime Street' bewitches with mystery and mayhem

'Lime Street' bewitches with mystery and mayhem

David Jaher's account of Harry Houdini attempt to debunk Boston society psychic Mina Crandon mixes history with high-wire theatricality.
by Genevieve Valentine

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An exuberantly dark first novel explores the chaos of central Africa

An exuberantly dark first novel explores the chaos of central Africa

Fiston Mwanza Mujila's novel, 'Tram 83,' is a freewheeling tale about life in an imaginary place inspired by the author's home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
by John Powers

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'Death By Water' will pull you under

'Death By Water' will pull you under

Kenzaburo Oe's new novel is a literary mystery in no rush for a solution. It follows an aging novelist, a stand-in for Oe himself, who returns home in search of clues to his father's drowning.
by Colin Dwyer

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Sandra Cisneros crosses borders and boundaries in 'A House of My Own'

Sandra Cisneros crosses borders and boundaries in 'A House of My Own'

The author's new memoir collects three decades worth of her journeys in search of a sense of home. "I guess I didn't realize I was gonna be crossing borders my whole life," she says.

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