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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. 

Coming to a bar near you --- performance literature!

Literary readings are sometimes perceived as somber, stuffy affairs, mainly attended by people in love with their own high IQs. In the Twin Cities, a group of writers called the Lit 6 Project is trying to broaden the audience for literature by injecting elements of performance, entertainment and unpredictability into the reading.

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Inside the mind of a children's author

A prolific children's literature author says his writing inspiration comes from observations of everyday things, such as old buildings or animals in the yard.

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How humans shaped the North Woods

From tribal burning to industrial logging, the actions of human beings have greatly impacted the natural environment. A new book chronicles the ways humans have changed the woods of northern Minnesota.

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Bloomsday in Dublin (and Moorhead)

Celebrations mark the centenary of Bloomsday, the fictitious day captured by James Joyce in the novel "Ulysses." Some call it the finest work of the 20th century. Others see it as an indecipherable tome. This year, Bloomsday is being celebrated from Dublin to Moorhead.

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Life on the Upper Mississippi

Minnesota author Patricia Hampl presents a literary view of the Upper Mississippi. She reads from works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis and even Henry David Thoreau, as well as her own musings on the great river. Music by pianist and Minnesota Public Radio favorite Dan Chouinard underscores the program.

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A refugee's story

A difficult transition to American life drives a Vietnamese emigre family apart in a poetic debut novel.

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Honoring the past and looking to the future

Former Governor Elmer Andersen's remarks Wednesday night at the Barnes and Noble Galleria Bookstore. He celebrates his 95th birthday next month and is out with a new book I Trust to be Believed. Plus, 14-year-old Grant Remmen of Detroit Lakes. The Minnesota spelling bee champion is heading out this weekend to the National Spelling Bee in Washington DC.

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Talking about death won't kill you

When death comes to a family, it often leaves loved ones speechless. But there are ways to confront the difficult time that may help with the pain.

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