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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. 

Is everyone a critic?

Is everyone a critic?

Professional criticism in newspapers may be declining, but the need for someone to weed through the wealth of media available online may be increasing.

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Minnesota writer Carol Bly dies

Minnesota writer Carol Bly dies

Carol Bly was a fiction writer, essayist and creative writing teacher who was known for her strong moral voice. She died of cancer Friday at the age of 77.

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Homayoun Ershadi's strange trip to stardom

Homayoun Ershadi's strange trip to stardom

There are many ways of becoming an actor. Take the story of an international movie star with a big role in the new adaptation of "The Kite Runner." Homayoun Ershadi got his big break sitting at a traffic light.
by Euan Kerr

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What living in Iceland teaches you about America

Minnesota poet Bill Holm spoke about his new book, "Windows of Brimnes: An American In Iceland," in a recent appearance at the Minneapolis Public Library.

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Birds in winter

Birds in winter

A non-game wildlife expert from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources takes questions about how birds and other wildlife behave in winter.

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Four stories for the start of Hanukkah

Four stories for the start of Hanukkah

National Public Radio commissioned four short stories to commemorate the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, which begins Tuesday at sundown.

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Arvonne Fraser recounts her life in politics

Arvonne Fraser recounts her life in politics

Arvonne Fraser has been a force in Minnesota's DFL Party for more than half a century. Fraser, who is married to former U.S. Rep. Don Fraser, disussed her new memoir "She's No Lady" recently with public radio icon Garrison Keillor.

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Best books of the year

Best books of the year

Both the Washington Post and the New York Times recently named the top 10 literary works of 2007. The choices include major prize winners as well as little-known gems, like Per Petterson's "Out Stealing Horses."

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What inspires Jim Klobuchar

Minnesota writer Jim Klobuchar, an award-winning former columnist for the Star Tribune, is out with a new collection of essays about the people on his travels who have inspired him.

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