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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 back for its 25th season. Join us at the Fitzgerald Theater for four special events with renowned authors, celebrating our anniversary with a special $25 ticket price for MPR members and Star Tribune subscribers. Buy tickets here.

Osama bin Laden biography goes inside al-Qaida leader's final hideout

Osama bin Laden biography goes inside al-Qaida leader's final hideout

Journalist Peter Bergen visited bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, before it was demolished. His new book, “The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden,” draws on materials seized in the raid.
by Dave Davies

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'Until Justice Be Done' examines northern free states' so-called black laws

'Until Justice Be Done' examines northern free states' so-called black laws

The South practiced slavery before the Civil War — but Northern states like Ohio and Indiana had Black laws, restrictive codes that criminalized and constrained the lives of free Black residents
by Steve Inskeep

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Oprah picked it, so did Obama — why this novel is THE summer book

Oprah picked it, so did Obama — why this novel is THE summer book

Nathan Harris's debut, set in a small Southern town just after Appomattox, has captured American readersthis summer by asking a question we haven't yet answered: How do you make peace after civil war?
by Carole V. Bell

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In 'Goldenrod,' a poet finds lessons in the good, the bad and the unexpected

In 'Goldenrod,' a poet finds lessons in the good, the bad and the unexpected

Maggie Smith's new poetry collection considers the human tendency to search for universal truths — but she looks for those truths in things we can see every day, as ordinary as rosebushes and rocks.
by Jeevika Verma

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Philosophical, queer, angry, romantic, defiant: 'Afterparties' contains multitudes

Philosophical, queer, angry, romantic, defiant: 'Afterparties' contains multitudes

Anthony Veasna So died in December, but he lives on in the pages of this debut story collection — a vibrant, funny and unsparing look at the lives of Cambodian Americans in his California hometown.
by Thúy Đinh

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Talking Volumes 2021 season guide

Talking Volumes 2021 season guide

Join host Kerri Miller as she welcomes — in person! — an amazing lineup of writers to the stage. From deeply loved Minnesota novelists to huge New York Times bestsellers, you won’t want to miss this lineup.
by MPR News Staff

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Ask a Bookseller: 'Skunk and Badger'

Ask a Bookseller: 'Skunk and Badger'

Bookseller Linda Crowder recommends the kids’ chapter book “Skunk and Badger,” written by Amy Timberlake and illustrated by Jon Klassen. "This book will be a classic someday," predicts Crowder.
by Emily Bright

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Feeling lost? These 3 fantasy novels will help you be the hero of your own story

Feeling lost? These 3 fantasy novels will help you be the hero of your own story

Sometimes books can be a literal escape, not just a figurative one. Our critic Alethea Kontis recommends three fantasy novels that helped her along the way as she escaped an abusive relationship.
by Alethea Kontis

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