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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. 

An exile reflects on his native country.

An exile reflects on his native country.

Novelist Nuruddin Farah left Somalia in the early 1990s, but the landscape of his homeland, and all the suffering it has experienced, is vividly evoked in his writing. His new book details the forces that have wreaked havoc in the country.

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Author Thomas Friedman discusses latest effort

Thomas Friedman speaks with MPR about his latest book,"That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back."

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The literature of 9/11

The literature of 9/11

In the ten years since the September 11 attacks, pages have been devoted to describing the events and the effects of that day. Midmorning looks at how literature has been shaped by 9/11, and also how it has shaped our understanding of the event.

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Books for the college bound

Books for the college bound

The summer before college is one of the last times, at least for a few years, that students have the time to read for fun. What books should be they be reading to prepare for the intellectual (and emotional) adventure of college?

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Bachmann memoir coming in November

Bachmann memoir coming in November

Michele Bachmann has a book deal. The Republican presidential candidate's memoir, currently untitled, has already been completed and will arrive in November.

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Amazon ups the ante against publishers

Amazon announces the signing of a popular self-help author in a high-profile move to position the online retailer as a publisher. The move is making traditional publishers nervous.

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The triple agent

The triple agent

In December 2009, a group of the CIA's top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Afghanistan to meet Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double agent who had gained access to the top commanders of al-Qaeda. Instead of providing information, Balawi detonated a bomb strapped to his chest, killing seven CIA operatives. Joby Warrick tells the story in his new book.

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Wisconsin professor wins 2011 bad writing contest

A sentence in which tiny birds and the English language are both slaughtered took top honors Monday in an annual bad writing contest.

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The big summer book show

The big summer book show

If you're a book lover, summer can be a great time to catch up on reading. But where to start? Two book critics share their ideas for what should be on your summer reading list.

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The man from Knockemstiff writes what he knows

The man from Knockemstiff writes what he knows

Author Donald Ray Pollock grew up in southern Ohio, in a place that really is called Knockemstiff. Pollock published a short story collection in 2008 named for his hometown to great acclaim. Now Pollock has a novel set in the same place, called "The Devil All the Time."
by Euan Kerr

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