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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

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Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Sam Stroozas rounds up local events and Minnesota book news you may have missed.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where host Emily Bright 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 and produced by Kelly Gordon every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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.

Poet D.A. Powell reflects on success and failure

Poet D.A. Powell reflects on success and failure

Days before D.A. Powell won a prestigious $100,000 award for his poetry, he received a stock rejection letter from the New Yorker magazine for a poem he'd submitted. "I kind of like that," Powell told the San Francisco Chronicle in March 2010. "It says that no matter what happens telling you you are on the right path, you are never quite there. You really don't want life to get too easy." He joins Midmorning to talk about his latest collection of poems.

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Books, by the millions, for Africa

Books, by the millions, for Africa

While many of us take books for granted, in some parts of the world they are still a rarity. A St. Paul-based organization is trying to change this by sending millions of books, most of them school textbooks, to Africa.
by Euan Kerr

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Fifty years later, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' still resonates

Fifty years later, 'To Kill a Mockingbird' still resonates

The Pulitzer Prize winning classic novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" turns 50 this year. Kerri Miller interviews a documentarian who gained rare interviews with Harper Lee's sister and friends to help reveal the story behind the book.

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Michele Norris discusses her new memoir

Michele Norris discusses her new memoir

Michele Norris, co-host of NPR's All Things Considered, is back in her home town of Minneapolis to talk about her new memoir, "The Grace of Silence." It's a very personal look at how we do -- and do not -- talk about race in America.
by Tom Crann

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Jefferson historian wins genius grant

A Harvard historian known for her chronicle of a slave family owned by Thomas Jefferson has won a MacArthur "Genius" grant. Kerri Miller spoke with Annette Gordon-Reed on stage last year at a Concordia College event.

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The reader's guide to travel

The reader's guide to travel

Nancy Pearl doesn't like to travel, but she loves to read about far-off lands. Her new book recommends literature for prospective travelers.

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NPR's Scott Simon on adoption: 'It's been a wonderful, emotional experience'

NPR's Scott Simon on adoption: 'It's been a wonderful, emotional experience'

Most of us know Scott Simon as the host of NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday. But in his new book "Baby, we were meant for each other" he explores another hugely important part of his life - as an adoptive father.
by Euan Kerr

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Talking Volumes: Jonathan Franzen

Talking Volumes: Jonathan Franzen

Jonathan Franzen joined Kerri Miller for a Talking Volumes conversation about his new book "Freedom." Recorded at the Fitzgerald Theater on September 21st, 2010.

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Super sad satire from writer Gary Shteyngart

Super sad satire from writer Gary Shteyngart

Novelist Gary Shteyngart's latest work is a comic love story set in a future America on the verge of collapse, where books no longer exist and people spend their time watching videos on iPhone-like devices. The author says it reflects a culture in which technology has outpaced our ability to process it.

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Author Per Petterson on writing

Author Per Petterson on writing

The English translation of Per Petterson's "Out Stealing Horses" won a prestigious international award and helped fuel the public's passion for Nordic literature. His latest novel deals with a man's attempt to reconnect with his dying mother.

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