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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread from MPR 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. 

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer. 

New battle over e-book lending

Librarians around the country are organizing a boycott of Harper Collins after the publisher set a licensing limit on checkouts of its e-books at libraries.

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Ojibwe columnist Jim Northrup looks back on career 'Follies'

Ojibwe columnist Jim Northrup looks back on career 'Follies'

For almost 22 years, Ojibwe writer Jim Northrup has entertained and chastened readers of his syndicated Fond Du Lacs Follies newspaper column. Now, a new collection of the Follies is about to hit the bookstores.
by Euan Kerr

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Young author debuts with a splash

Young author debuts with a splash

At 24, Tea Obreht has gained notoriety as one of the best American fiction writers under 40. Born in Yugoslavia, raised in Cyprus and Egypt, Tea's first novel "The Tiger's Wife" follows a woman searching for answers through her grandfather's stories.

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New battle over e-book lending

New battle over e-book lending

Librarians around the country are organizing a boycott of Harper Collins after the publisher set a licensing limit on checkouts of its e-books at libraries.

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The search for Nepal's missing children

The search for Nepal's missing children

When Conor Grennan went to Nepal in 2006, he thought he was just going to volunteer in an orphanage for a couple of months. Instead, as he recounts in his book "Little Princes" he found a new calling, searching for victims of child trafficking in a war-ravaged country.
by Euan Kerr

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Newsmaker: New battle over e-book lending

Librarians around the country are organizing a boycott of Harper Collins after the publisher set a licensing limit on checkouts of its e-books at libraries.

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Paper Darts defies literary magazine logic

Paper Darts defies literary magazine logic

With the magazine and publishing world in a tailspin, you'd think this would be the worst time to start a literary magazine. But three recent University of Minnesota graduates disagree. The trio behind a new publication called "Paper Darts" has big plans -- and the support of the Twin Cities literary community.
by Euan Kerr

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Revisiting Huck Finn

Revisiting Huck Finn

Could Mark Twain ever have predicted that words he used more than 120 years ago would create such a fire storm in 2011? Midmorning profiles educators with different approaches to teaching the classic.
by Karen Morrill

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The private life of George Washington

The private life of George Washington

Much has been written about George Washington, but less is known about how George Washington's upbringing and private life shaped his view on politics and leadership. Historian Ron Chernow's new biography aims to change that.

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Marooned with Midmorning

Marooned with Midmorning

It's the timeless question for lovers of music and literature. If you were stranded on a desert island, what one book and album would you want to have along with you? And why?
by Mark Wheat

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