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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.

"Winn-Dixie" author returns with a new novel

Kate DiCamillo's new book began as a request from a child and became a story of a mouse, a rat, a girl and a princess.

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The saga of Saul and Patsy

Minnesota native Charles Baxter talks about his new novel, Saul and Patsy, more on the life of two characters from Baxter's short stories written over the past 20 years.

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Anna Quindlen: a Talking Volumes interview

Author and columnist Anna Quindlen kicks off the new season of Talking Volumes. She joins Katherine Lanpher to talk about Blessings, a chronicle of an unusual family.

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Themes and Threads in Anna Quindlen's "Blessings"

Talking Volumes Producer Heather McElhatton discusses the themes of quietness, pathos, and return in Anna Quindlen's novel, "Blessings."

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A new biography of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin's belief in civic duty and self-reliance helped shape an American ethic. A new biography illuminates this energetic, complicated forebear.

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A Q&A with Chimamanda Adichie

Chimamanda Adichie discusses her career and her novel, "Purple Hibiscus."

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Head to toe history of the human body

A new look at the history and science of the human body examines the body of knowledge, or what we know about what we are.

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Head to toe history of the human body

A new look at the history and science of the human body examines the body of knowledge, or what we know about what we are.

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Summer reading for children

The latest heavy volume from Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling may be the blockbuster of the children's book world, but it's not the only good read for kids.

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Northern Minnesota writers feed creativity through nature

There's a significant community of writers living amidst the lakes and pines of northern Minnesota. Poets, novelists, nature and non-fiction writers are attracted to the serenity of the northern landscape. Many northwoods writers sustain their creativity by the natural beauty that surrounds them.

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