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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.

Forget the book, have you read this irresistible story on blurbs?

Forget the book, have you read this irresistible story on blurbs?

Those snippets of praise on book covers have been around for over 150 years (at least). But how do they get there -- and why? The answers are more complicated, and compelling, than you might think.
by Colin Dwyer

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Sandstorms, explosions, potatoes, oh my: 'Martian' takes science seriously

Sandstorms, explosions, potatoes, oh my: 'Martian' takes science seriously

Programmer Andy Weir had always longed to read science fiction with a greater focus on science. So, he wrote a novel of his own -- which has since become a best-seller and, now, a blockbuster film.

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Meet the man who invents languages for a living

Meet the man who invents languages for a living

David J. Peterson has crafted languages for TV shows and films -- even a whole language for a single giant, in 'Game of Thrones.' For him, every language is a balance of the technical and the artistic.

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What's it like to be a dictator's kid? 'They're all marked,' author says

What's it like to be a dictator's kid? 'They're all marked,' author says

In 'Children of Monsters,' Jay Nordlinger looks at the lives of, among others, Romano Mussolini, Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi and one man who claimed to be Hitler's son.

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'The Golden Compass' turns 20 (Its daemon has probably settled)

'The Golden Compass' turns 20 (Its daemon has probably settled)

Philip Pullman's beloved fantasy series traces the adventures of brave young Lyra Belacqua (and her daemon, Pantalaimon), through an alternate universe that occasionally spills over into our own.

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Julie Schumacher wins Thurber Prize for American Humor

Julie Schumacher wins Thurber Prize for American Humor

"Dear Committee Members" is a comic saga of a creative writing professor and his letters of recommendation. It is the first time a woman has won the prize. Schumacher is a professor at the University of Minnesota.
by The Associated Press

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Memories of a maybe angel in 'Don't Suck, Don't Die'

Memories of a maybe angel in 'Don't Suck, Don't Die'

Musicians Kristin Hersh and Vic Chesnutt were friends and tour buddies for years before his death from an overdose in 2009; 'Don't Suck' is Hersh's haunting memoir of her lost friend and his pain.
by Michael Schaub

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Marilynne Robinson explores faith and belief

Marilynne Robinson explores faith and belief

In "Gilead," Pastor John Ames writes a letter to his young son and contemplates what it means to believe, to doubt and to search.
by Kerri Miller

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'Ingredients': An eye-opening look at the additives in our food

'Ingredients': An eye-opening look at the additives in our food

What does diacetyl look like? And what's it doing in our food? A new book seeks to demystify 75 common food additives with striking photos of these ingredients and details on their uses and history.
by Tove Danovich

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