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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

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. 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.

Five things you didn't know about Laura Ingalls Wilder

Five things you didn't know about Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wilder's autobiography is finally published, nearly 60 years after her death, with extensive new details about life on the prairie.
by Tracy Mumford

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'America's Bitter Pill' argues why health care law 'won't work'

'America's Bitter Pill' argues why health care law 'won't work'

Journalist Steven Brill's latest book critiques the Affordable Care Act, which he calls "unsustainable."

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By the numbers: The best books of the year

By the numbers: The best books of the year

Which books landed on the most 'best of' lists? And who wrote them: Women? Men? Millennials? Boomers? Here's a little breakdown of the books of 2014.
by Tracy Mumford

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From Austin, Amanda Hocking spins a fanciful, lucrative, world

From Austin, Amanda Hocking spins a fanciful, lucrative, world

Austin-based writer Amanda Hocking has become a sensation of the publishing world with troll romances that have lured young and older readers.
by Euan Kerr

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How to fix America's schools

How to fix America's schools

Joel Klein, who led the New York Department of Education for 8 years, discusses his new book, which is focused on fixing America's schools.

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Cats, dogs write poems (sort of)

Cats, dogs write poems (sort of)

Dog: The plants are torn | The garbage strewn | The wires chewed | The couch and I had a fight ... | I went places I should never go | I saw a side of myself I should never see | I said things to the cat I can never take back | So please don't ever leave again
by Jasmine Garsd

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Vocab-intensive tech encourages 'anytime, anywhere learning'

Vocab-intensive tech encourages 'anytime, anywhere learning'

Sesame Workshop's games are designed to help kids learn words and have fun. One educator says it's never too soon to teach tykes that technology can be more than just entertainment.
by Lynn Neary

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What 2014 taught us about reading

What 2014 taught us about reading

The year's developments in how and why we read, from speed reading to e-readers to the redemptive power of books.
by Tracy Mumford

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The enduring life of lit mags: We'll always have (The) Paris (Review)

The enduring life of lit mags: We'll always have (The) Paris (Review)

It's the story we've heard time and again over the past decade or so: the story of a good literary magazine dying. But the mags still have an enduring fascination -- and the news isn't all bad.
by Juan Vidal

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Nonprofit fights illiteracy by getting books to kids who need them

Nonprofit fights illiteracy by getting books to kids who need them

There are neighborhoods in this country with plenty of books; and then there are neighborhoods where books are harder to find. First Book is a nonprofit that distributes books to kids who live in the latter.
by Lynn Neary

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