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.

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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.

December 23, 2008 2:45 PM

Christmas stories on Midday

Midday features three stories of the Christmas season. Garrison Keillor has a special Christmas Day edition of "the News from Lake Wobegon," MPR's Dan Olson reads the famous 1897 New York Sun letter, "Is there a Santa Claus?," and Truman Capote reads "A Christmas Memory."

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December 16, 2008 2:00 AM

Todd Boss rides his 'Yellowrocket'

Todd Boss is riding a poetic wave. Not only has a major publishing house just released his first book of poems, "Yellow Rocket," he says the nation has just elected a poet as president. Boss is the self-appointed poet laureate of Nina's Coffee Cafe in St Paul.

by Euan Kerr

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December 11, 2008 8:07 PM

Young adult novelist details his craft

Imagine the earnestness of the Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew. Add some wry wit, elaborate imagination and a healthy dose of satire and you have the work of M.T Anderson. He's in Minnesota this week for events at the Hennepin County Library and talked to Tom Crann about what drives young adult novelists like him.

by Tom Crann

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December 8, 2008 8:50 AM

Life on the upper Mississippi

Author Patricia Hampl draws from literary sources far and wide to take listeners on a literary voyage down the Mississippi River. She reads from her own memoirs as well as the work of other poets, novelists, historians and essayists.

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November 28, 2008 12:43 PM

Meteorologist reflects on life and career in new memoir

Minnesota Public Radio meteorologist Craig Edwards has written a memoir titled "Nature's Messenger: Memoirs of a prophetic Meteorologist." Edwards sat down with Tom Crann to talk about his career, the book and what prompted him to write a memoir on his life as a meteorologist.

by Tom Crann

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November 27, 2008 12:00 PM

Local writer takes comparing ages to a new level

A Minneapolis writer's long running collection of anecdotes about what famous and infamous people did at certain ages now has become a compelling read.

by Euan Kerr

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November 26, 2008 12:00 AM

Talking Volumes: Wally Lamb

A broacast of Kerri Miller's conversation with author Wally Lamb about his new novel, "The Hour I First Believed." Recorded at the Fitzgerald Theater on November 20, 2008 as part of the Talking Volumes regional book club.

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November 23, 2008 3:00 PM

Writers take aim at writing a novel, in a month

For thousands of Minnesotans, this week is crunch week. It's not just because it's Thanksgiving, it's because they have to finish a novel by midnight Saturday.

by Euan Kerr

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November 18, 2008 5:00 PM

Paul Feig celebrates the geek in all of us

Paul Feig has made a career out of making TV shows and films which examine the lives of geeks. His show "Freaks and Geeks" launched the careers of several people who are now big names in Hollywood. Now, Feig has now turned his talents to writing children's books.

by Euan Kerr

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November 17, 2008 8:26 AM

Talk of the Stacks with Garrison Keillor

Author and humorist Garrison Keillor talked about poetry, writing and his own relationship with the library at this month's "Talk of the Stacks" series at the Hennepin County Library in downtown Minneapolis.

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