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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. 

The story after a hardscrabble childhood

The story after a hardscrabble childhood

Jeannette Walls' first memoir shocked readers with her dysfunctional childhood in a poor rural Arizona town. In her latest novel, which is a fictionalized prequel to "Glass Castle," she revisits her family to explore the pioneering life of her resourceful grandmother during the Great Depression.

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Elizabeth Gilbert gives marriage a second shot

Elizabeth Gilbert gives marriage a second shot

In her book, "Committed," Gilbert explains how she came to make peace with marriage as she gives it a second try with a new partner.

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The Kerri Miller Book Club: "A Tale of Two Cities"

The Kerri Miller Book Club: "A Tale of Two Cities"

This year marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Dickens' tragic historical fiction "Tale of Two Cities." One of his later and least "Dickensian" of all his novels, it was first released in serial form in a self-published commercial literary magazine. What was then a popular story is revered today as a victorian classic.

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The toll of grief on a marriage

The toll of grief on a marriage

A new debut novel explores the connection between chronic pain and the emotional pain of loss. St. Paul writer Kate Ledger brings her experience observing and writing about doctors to her contemplation of marriage and grief.

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Books' digital future

Books' digital future

As more and more books are published every year, Harvard University's head librarian says the future for books and the publishing industry will be a digital one. The transition from print to computer will provide a test of how well we preserve our great works of literature.

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When science and literature inspired one another

When science and literature inspired one another

While Wordsworth and Byron were forging the age of Romantic literature, a burst of scientific discovery was happening that forever changed astronomy, chemistry, and physics. Author Richard Holmes reaches back to this period in history to understand the foundations of modern science.

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Talking Volumes with Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger

Talking Volumes with Stephen King and Audrey Niffenegger

Two masters of the art of frightening fiction share the stage at the Fitzgerald Theater in the latest installment of Talking Volumes. Stephen King's latest novel is about what happens to a town that becomes surrounded by an impenetrable dome. Audrey Niffenegger's latest novel has twin teenaged girls haunted by the residents of Highgate Cemetery in London. Talking Volumes, hosted by Kerri Miller, was recorded Nov. 18.

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Talking Volumes: Stephen King

Talking Volumes: Stephen King

Author Stephen King talks about his first published novel, "Carrie," during the Talking Volumes series at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. Kerri Miller hosted the live event November 18, 2009.
by Kerri Miller

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