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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.

'Made to Kill' is pulp pastiche that hits the target

'Made to Kill' is pulp pastiche that hits the target

Adam Christopher's sci-fi noir follows robotic hit man Raymond Electromatic through a vividly evoked 1960s Los Angeles.
by Jason Heller

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Behind bars, cheap ramen is as good as gold

Behind bars, cheap ramen is as good as gold

Instant noodles are a staple for inmates: a basis of recipe hacks, a form of currency. They've even helped defuse a prison riot, as an ex-inmate details in 'Prison Ramen,' a book of stories and recipes.

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Inside Winnie-the-Pooh's real Hundred Acre Wood

Inside Winnie-the-Pooh's real Hundred Acre Wood

The tales of "Winnie-the-Pooh" have more truth in them than you may know. Ashdown Forest in southeastern England is the inspiration behind the magical forest in A.A. Milne's classic "Pooh" tales.
by Tracy Mumford

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Six bestsellers that were written in only a month

Six bestsellers that were written in only a month

In honor of National Novel Writing Month, we run down the list of the speediest writers around.
by Tracy Mumford

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'City Of Clowns' is a dreamlike tale of family and tragedy

'City Of Clowns' is a dreamlike tale of family and tragedy

Author Daniel Alarcón's new graphic novel is adapted from a short story about a young Peruvian journalist who discovers strange links between his father and the impoverished street clowns of Lima.
by Jason Heller

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A new 'Wonder': Magic objects and Antarctica

A new 'Wonder': Magic objects and Antarctica

Minnesota author Nicole Helget's new book for young readers follows a magic quest from Kansas to Antarctica, just before the Civil War.
by MPR News Staff

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Five bestselling authors you may not have heard of

Five bestselling authors you may not have heard of

Many extremely popular women writers of the 19th century are now pretty much forgotten — and gone with the wind.
by Linton Weeks

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