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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread from MPR 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. 

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer. 

A compelling plot gives way to farce in Franzen's 'Purity'

A compelling plot gives way to farce in Franzen's 'Purity'

The new novel reveals sharp observations and a great, sprawling story. But critic Roxane Gay says the book gets bogged down with absurdly drawn characters and misfired critiques of modern life.
by Roxane Gay

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Coffee House Press shakes up publishing

Coffee House Press shakes up publishing

Minneapolis' Coffee House Press releases 18 books a year, but publisher Chris Fischbach says they are expanding their programming to connect readers and writers in different ways.
by Tracy Mumford

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In new novel, fans seek clues about mysterious author's past

In new novel, fans seek clues about mysterious author's past

Elena Ferrante is the pen name of an anonymous Italian author. Very little is known about her, but Ferrante's books -- widely believed to be a thinly veiled autobiography -- have achieved cult status.
by Christopher Livesay

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Jonathan Franzen on writing: It's an 'escape from everything'

Jonathan Franzen on writing: It's an 'escape from everything'

The author of 'The Corrections' and the new novel 'Purity' likens writing to losing himself in a dream. "When it's really going well ... you're in a fantasy land and feeling no pain," he says.

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College students object to reading bestselling, 'pornographic' memoir

College students object to reading bestselling, 'pornographic' memoir

Duke University selected Alison Bechdel's graphic novel memoir, "Fun Home," for all incoming freshman to read. But that sparked a conversation among students, some of whom said reading the book would be immoral.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Why We Work': It's more than money

'Why We Work': It's more than money

A recent Gallup poll found that only 13 percent of workers feel engaged by their jobs. So why is everyone doing something they don't enjoy? Barry Schwartz tries to find an answer.
by Tracy Mumford

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'The Wake' is an unlikely hit in an imaginary language

'The Wake' is an unlikely hit in an imaginary language

Paul Kingsnorth self-published 'The Wake,' his tale of the 11th-century Norman conquest of England, written in a pastiche of Old and modern English --- and was startled when it became a smash hit.
by Ari Shapiro

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