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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 Discomfort Zone

The Discomfort Zone

Anyone who's gone through adolescence has those moments. Just remembering them can make you cringe inside even 20 or 30 years later. Most of us just hide them away mentally. But not Jonathan Franzen.

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Junot Diaz and 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'

Junot Diaz and 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'

While most authors strive for clarity, Junot Diaz says he wanted to create a story that would be difficult to grasp. The New York Times described his new novel as "Mario Vargas Llosa meets "Star Trek" meets David Foster Wallace meets Kanye West."
by Euan Kerr

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A memoir of abuse

A memoir of abuse

A survivor of sexual abuse has written a searing memoir about his family's charmed, yet destructive ways.

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R.T. Rybak says reading is a priority for him

R.T. Rybak says reading is a priority for him

For our Bookshelf series, we asked Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak to select a book that is important to him. He selected "The Heartsong of Charging Elk" by James Welch.
by Cathy Wurzer

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'We, Too, Are Book Artists'

'We, Too, Are Book Artists'

In what's believed to be the first ever show of its kind, "We, Too, Are Book Artists" gathers the work of African American book artists from around the nation in Minneapolis.
by Marianne Combs

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Physician, write thyself

Physician, write thyself

Dr. Vincent Lam has seen a lot during his career as an emergency room physician in Toronto, from mundane scrapes and broken limbs, to the mysterious horrors of the SARS epidemic, which hit the city a few years back. He's written about his experiences in a new collection of short stories.
by Euan Kerr

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What did you read this summer?

What did you read this summer?

As summer ends, many teenagers are furiously trying to finish assigned summer reading. But some are just as likely to be reading Harry Potter as "The Scarlet Letter." Midmorning looks at the changing nature of the high school summer reading list.

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Butter-head sculptures inspire State Fairgoers

The butter-head sculptures remain one of the Fair's most visited features, attracting new-comers and old-timers alike. Minneapolis writer Leslie Ball made it there today and wrote this poem.

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The Midmorning book club: Pride and Prejudice

The Midmorning book club: Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen is as close to a literary rock star as any author who lived in the 18th century. She inspires two new movies this summer. The Midmorning book club examines "Pride and Prejudice" with an author who has researched the era, down to the its card games.

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