The Thread® - Books and 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.

October 12, 2015 12:00 AM

'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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October 10, 2015 12:33 PM

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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October 10, 2015 8:00 AM

'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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October 9, 2015 11:46 AM

Al Franken working on book about his years in Washington

The senator and former "Saturday Night Live" writer will write what he called as "psychological thriller" about his life in politics.

by The Associated Press

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October 9, 2015 9:14 AM

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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October 8, 2015 12:29 PM

'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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October 8, 2015 12:28 PM

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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October 8, 2015 6:27 AM

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