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.

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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.

April 10, 2015 6:20 PM

T.C. Boyle's new novel explores the perils of rejecting authority

In "The Harder They Come," author T.C. Boyle explores American anti-authoritarianism. In doing so, he slides readers inside his characters' heads.

by Euan Kerr

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April 10, 2015 12:17 PM

Childless by choice: Meghan Daum on the decision not to have children

Spurred by her own experience in choosing not to have children, Meghan Daum edited an essay collection by writers who have made the same decision.

by Tracy Mumford

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April 10, 2015 12:00 AM

The best books of the 21st century (so far)

The BBC polled dozens of book critics to find the best our young century has to offer.

by Tracy Mumford

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April 8, 2015 12:31 PM

Roaming and Reading: Shanghai

For this week's Roaming and Reading, travel to Shanghai with Adam Minter, an Asia-based columnist for Bloomberg View.

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April 8, 2015 12:13 PM

Book briefs: Would you really want to go to a "Hunger Games" theme park?

This week, a book steeped in death gets its own theme park and the BBC names the best children's books ever.

by Tracy Mumford

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April 8, 2015 11:56 AM

Frostbeard candles put the 'lit' in 'literature'

Candlemakers Roxie and Tom Lubanovic craft scented candles based on their favorite books. Sherlock Holmes smells of tobacco and rain, while the Shire smells of clover and oakmoss.

by Tracy Mumford

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April 8, 2015 12:00 AM

Philip Glass on legacy: 'The future ... it's all around us'

For the composer, life is how the past and the future connect. Glass' new memoir, Words Without Music, looks back on his childhood, travels through Asia and when his music provoked violence.

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April 7, 2015 2:12 PM

Tracing the roots of 'The Brothers' and the Boston Marathon bombing

As the jurors start deliberations Tuesday whether to convict Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Masha Gessen says there are still some "gaping holes" in the case. Her new book is "The Brothers."