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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.

When are split-second decisions the right ones?

New Yorker Staff Writer Malcolm Gladwell answers questions about his latest book, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking," at the Commonwealth Club of California. "Blink," which explores snap judgements, is number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

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The power and pitfalls of snap judgements

By the time you finish this sentence, you may very well have decided whether or not to listen to Malcolm Gladwell's speech at the Commonwealth Club of California. Gladwell's book "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" is about these kinds of split-second decisions: how they are made, why they are often surprisingly good and why they are sometimes tragically bad.

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A writer's view of true crime

Minnesota author Judith Guest is drawn to the dark side of life. She loves reading the most lurid tales from the daily newspapers: the kidnappings and the murders. Her latest novel, "The Tarnished Eye," is based on the real-life unsolved killings of a father, mother and their four children.

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Love poems for Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day, and what better time for a few sweet words. Here are some love poems from three members of the Laurel Poetry Collective, a Twin Cities local poetry group -- Ilse Mueller, Lisa Berg, and Tom Ruud.
by Annie Baxter

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A writer's view of true crime

Minnesota author Judith Guest is drawn to the dark side of life. She loves reading the most lurid tales from the daily newspapers: the kidnappings and the murders. Her latest novel, "The Tarnished Eye," is based on the real-life unsolved killings of a father, mother and their four children.

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The man behind the lobotomy

The writer of a new biography of Dr Walter Freeman, says his subject was not a monster. He was the doctor who developed the lobotomy in the USA, then spent three decades performing and promoting the controversial operation. Minneapolis writer Jack El-Hai says lobotomy seems brutal now, but at the time doctors treating people with mental illness had few other options.

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Snap decisions

Many decisions, including some rather important ones, are made in the blink of an eye. But that doesn't mean quick judgments are necessarily flawed.

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A writer's view of true crime

Minnesota author Judith Guest is drawn to the dark side of life. She loves reading the most lurid tales from the daily newspapers: the kidnappings and the murders. Her latest novel, "The Tarnished Eye," is based on the real-life unsolved killings of a father, mother and their four children.

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Sending a message about loneliness back in time

In Douglas Coupland's new novel 'Eleanor Rigby', 36 year-old Liz Dunn has resigned herself to a life of loneliness. She lives in a small Canadian town, trying to avoid the overbearing attentions of her mother, and the rest of her family. Then one day a 20-year-old man turns up on her doorstep, and says he's her son.

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Book review: "Cold Water Memory"

It's getting to that time of year when many people across the state are a little blue. The holidays are a memory. New Year's resolutions are already out the door. Plus, the cold and short days will be around for another few months. A local security guard/poet provides some solace for the winter-weary.

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