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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.

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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Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich wins literature Nobel

Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich wins literature Nobel

The investigative journalist is known for her in-depth exposes of the former Soviet Union, letting eyewitness accounts shed an unsettling light on tragedies.
by Colin Dwyer

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Even in death, Edgar Allan Poe remains a mystery

Even in death, Edgar Allan Poe remains a mystery

Oct. 7 marks the 166th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe's death. How he died, however, remains a mystery.
by Tracy Mumford

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A mixtape of Russian history in 'Love and Techno'

A mixtape of Russian history in 'Love and Techno'

Anthony Marra's new book, 'The Tsar of Love and Techno,' is a collection of stories playing out over nearly a century of change in Russia.

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A trove of kids' book treasures, underneath the University of Minnesota

A trove of kids' book treasures, underneath the University of Minnesota

Once a doctor's hobby, the Kerlan Collection is now one of the world's great collections of children's literature. Over 100,000 books offer visitors a chance to see the writer's process -- for free.
by Alexandra Starr

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Punk icon Patti Smith releases second memoir, 'M Train'

Punk icon Patti Smith releases second memoir, 'M Train'

Singer Patti Smith's latest book is a poetic, free-flowing memoir. In 2010, her memoir 'Just Kids' -- about her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe -- won a National Book Award.
by Neda Ulaby

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Fan fiction comes to life in 'Carry On'

Fan fiction comes to life in 'Carry On'

"Meta" isn't quite sufficient to describe Rainbow Rowell's latest, which brings a fictional Harry Potteresque series described in her previous novel 'Fangirl' to warm, messy, beautiful life.
by Amal El-Mohtar

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