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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where The Thread 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 every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Find reviews for new releases, as well as hidden gems you may have missed.

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. 

Exclusive First Read: Erik Larson's 'Dead Wake'

Exclusive First Read: Erik Larson's 'Dead Wake'

"The Devil in the White City" author Erik Larson turns his attention to the sinking of the liner Lusitania almost 100 years ago -- a turning point that helped bring the United States into World War I.

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Harry Potter's new book of secrets

Harry Potter's new book of secrets

A new bibliography digs into J.K. Rowling's writing process.
by Tracy Mumford

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'Dead Wake' is Kerri's book pick

'Dead Wake' is Kerri's book pick

Erik Larson's latest follows the final days of the passengers and crew on the Lusitania, before a German submarine sunk the ship off the coast of Ireland in 1915.

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Ever cheat at Monopoly? So did its creator: He stole the idea from a woman

Ever cheat at Monopoly? So did its creator: He stole the idea from a woman

The game Charles Darrow sold in the 1930s bore a striking resemblance to a game Lizzie Magie patented in 1904. In "The Monopolists," Mary Pilon tells Monopoly's origin story.

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Literary classics go graphic

Literary classics go graphic

How do Shakespeare and Dostoevksy look as graphic novels?
by Tracy Mumford

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North Korea's most famous defector changes his story

North Korea's most famous defector changes his story

Shin Dong-hyuk's story of growing up in a North Korean prison camp may not be entirely true. Does it matter?
by Tracy Mumford

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Author Michael Meyer on life 'In Manchuria'

Author Michael Meyer on life 'In Manchuria'

In his new book, Michael Meyer describes the three years he spent living in Wasteland, a town in northeast China.
by Tracy Mumford

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Prisoners of war and Ojibwe reservation make unlikely neighbors

Prisoners of war and Ojibwe reservation make unlikely neighbors

Native American writer David Treuer bases the World War II camp for German prisoners on a real-life one that existed near the village of Bena, Minn., on the Leech Lake Reservation where he grew up.

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'The Hare with Amber Eyes' is Kerri's book pick

'The Hare with Amber Eyes' is Kerri's book pick

Edmund de Waal retraces the history of a strange family inheritance in this mix of memoir and detective story.
by Tracy Mumford

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Oprah's Book Club shines a light on a struggling writer

Oprah's Book Club shines a light on a struggling writer

Oprah Winfrey has named 'Ruby', a novel about an abused woman in Texas, as her next book club selection. That could make first-time novelist Cynthia Bond into a literary star.
by Karen Grigsby Bates

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