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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.

What books should all presidential candidates read?

What books should all presidential candidates read?

What books should be mandatory reading for future presidents? A historian and a speechwriter offer up must-readers fiction, fiction and poetry. Add your own suggestions to the list.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Fake Fruit Factory' portrays warped, whimsical small-town America

'Fake Fruit Factory' portrays warped, whimsical small-town America

The city at the center of Patrick Wensink's novel may be one of "America's Boringest," but critic Jason Heller says it makes a great setting for this "overstuffed buffet of a book."
by Jason Heller

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In new memoir, Mindy Kaling has more to say on life, love and showbiz

In new memoir, Mindy Kaling has more to say on life, love and showbiz

Five years after her popular debut book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?", the actress, producer and writer is back with more essays.

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2015 National Book Awards: Young people's literature

2015 National Book Awards: Young people's literature

From a mysterious kidnapping in the Midwest to a shape-shifting supervillain sidekick, the books in contention for the Young People's Literature prize leap across genres and styles.
by Tracy Mumford

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Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Frank D. Gilroy dies at 89

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Frank D. Gilroy dies at 89

Frank D. Gilroy, who won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award and a Drama Critic's Circle Award for The Subject Was Roses, died on Saturday. The play is about a World War II veteran returning home from war.
by Doreen McCallister

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Remember 9/11 through literature

Remember 9/11 through literature

It took time for writers to process and understand how America -- and the world -- changed after the attacks on Sept. 11. Now, a growing number of novels address the tragedy and its aftermath.
by Kerri Miller

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From dive bars to Gothic castles: A career with the arc of a fairy tale

From dive bars to Gothic castles: A career with the arc of a fairy tale

Patrick DeWitt, a former barback, once saw his hopes for a writing career teeter on a trash can's edge. Now an acclaimed author, he's dissecting folk tales in his newest novel, "Undermajordomo Minor."

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