The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

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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.

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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.

February 19, 2009 12:00 AM

All the president's books

Much has been made of President Obama's love of books, from his reading of Hemingway as a teenager to his study of biographies on Lincoln and FDR. Midmorning looks at other books that should be on the new president's reading list.

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February 16, 2009 12:00 AM

Book picks and pans

Author and librarian Nancy Pearl offers her take on the best books of 2008.

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February 16, 2009 12:00 AM

A father's tragedy shadows the son

In his 2005 memoir, David Vann attempted to come to terms with his father's suicide by taking a voyage on a hopelessly unprepared boat. In his new novella and collection of short stories, "Legend of a Suicide," Vann comes back to the themes of loss and a father's legend that haunts his son.

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January 30, 2009 2:45 PM

The Walker Art Center celebrates the book as art

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is celebrating the book as an art form with it's exhibition "Text/Messages." It features books from the Walker's library, created by Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali and Kara Walker among others.

by Marianne Combs

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January 30, 2009 12:00 AM

Midmorning Book Club: 'Heart of Darkness'

Joseph Conrad's groundbreaking novel, "Heart of Darkness," explores what it means to be human in the midst of privation and violence. The interpretation of his book also has changed over time, sparking controversy along the way as well.

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January 28, 2009 2:00 PM

Blogger hits big with musings on 'White People'

Christian Lander makes people uncomfortable -- and makes them laugh. Lander, a native of Canada, is an Internet sensation for his satirical writings on his sblog, "Stuff White People Like."

by Euan Kerr

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January 27, 2009 12:29 PM

John Updike, prize-winning writer, dead at age 76

John Updike, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, died Tuesday of lung cancer. He was 76.

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January 26, 2009 5:17 PM

Local author's book wins Caldecott Award

St. Paul poet and children's book author Susan Marie Swanson wrote the book that won this year's prestigious Caldecott Medal for best picture book. The illustrator is Beth Krommes of New Hampshire. The book is called "The House in the Night."

by Tom Crann

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January 26, 2009 12:42 PM

Author Neil Gaiman's spooky book wins Newbery honor

Local best-selling author Neil Gaiman has received the top prize for children's literature: The John Newbery Medal, for "The Graveyard Book."

by Euan Kerr

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January 23, 2009 4:30 PM

Jeffrey Hatcher finds new depths in 'Jekyll and Hyde'

This weekend, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde will stalk the stage of the Park Square Theater in St. Paul. Twin Cities playwright Jeffrey Hatcher adapted and expended Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of the man of science who releases his inner evil by drinking a potion.

by Euan Kerr

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