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The Thread® - Books and Literary 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. 

Building a better brain through music, dance and poetry

Building a better brain through music, dance and poetry

Art can make the brain's wiring stronger, more flexible, and ready to learn, say the authors of the new book, “Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us.”
by Jon Hamilton

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Diana Abu-Jaber on family myths and inheritance

Diana Abu-Jaber on family myths and inheritance

For immigrants who have to start life over in a new land, home carries a powerful lure. Diana Abu-Jaber says questions of identity and displacement haunted her Jordanian father, which inspired her latest novel, “Fencing with the King.”
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Jeannette Walls' 'Hang the Moon' transports readers to Prohibition

Jeannette Walls' 'Hang the Moon' transports readers to Prohibition

Walls' excellent construction of her female characters is most satisfying; each represents women from varying walks of life, each fighting for their own place in a male-dominated world.
by Keishel Williams

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From the archives: Diana Abu-Jaber on 'Birds of Paradise'

From the archives: Diana Abu-Jaber on 'Birds of Paradise'

This Friday on Big Books and Bold Ideas, author Diana Abu-Jaber returns to talk about her latest novel, “Fencing with the King,” which was just released in paperback. To get you in the mood, enjoy one of host Kerri Miller’s last conversations with Abu-Jaber — this one from 2011, about her book, "Birds of Paradise."
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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'Like a living scrapbook': 'My Powerful Hair' is a celebration of Native culture

'Like a living scrapbook': 'My Powerful Hair' is a celebration of Native culture

Author Carole Lindstrom follows Caldecott-winning We Are Water Protectors with another children's book featuring Native culture. She says she hopes it helps kids "see themselves in a positive way."
by Elizabeth Blair

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Professor Dacher Keltner on the significance of awe

Professor Dacher Keltner on the significance of awe

According to professor and researcher Dacher Keltner, awe is the universal emotion we feel when we encounter vast mysteries we can’t explain. And he believes we should find more of it, in order to live happy and health lives, both individually and collectively. This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, host Kerri Miller talks with Keltner about research that resulted in his new book, “Awe: The New Science of Every Day Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.”
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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