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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.

'Love letter to black boys': Memoir explores masculinity against Appalachian backdrop

'Love letter to black boys': Memoir explores masculinity against Appalachian backdrop

“Punch Me Up To The Gods” opens with Brian Broome's father beating him when he was 10. The blows by his father were meant to pound manliness into him — to be the "toughest guy in the room."
by Steve Inskeep

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'Dead Souls' is a smart book, in some ways a good one — also, it's unreadable

'Dead Souls' is a smart book, in some ways a good one — also, it's unreadable

English publisher and poet Sam Riviere's debut novel is a long monologue from a poet, disgraced for plagiarism, unburdening himself to a self-obsessed poetry magazine editor in a seedy hotel bar.
by Lily Meyer

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Underfunded and overworked, Secret Service fears they're 'relying on luck'

Carol Leonnig spoke to a number of Secret Service agents for her new book, “Zero Fail.” "They strongly believed that it was a matter of time before a president was shot on their watch," she says.
by Dave Davies

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Engaging with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: A reading list

Engaging with Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: A reading list

Over the past year, stories surrounding Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been full of violence and grief — here are some reading recommendations that'll take you beyond just suffering.
by Janet W. Lee and Summer Thomad

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A boy and his grandfather visit home 'On the Trapline'

A boy and his grandfather visit home 'On the Trapline'

In “On the Trapline,” a little boy and his Moshom — which means grandfather in the Swampy Cree language — travel north to visit the trapline where, many years ago, the grandfather grew up living off the land.
by Samantha Balaban

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Ask a bookseller recommends very short stories — all about ghosts

Ask a bookseller recommends very short stories — all about ghosts

Lia Lent of WordsWorth Books in Little Rock, Ark., recommended “The Ghost Variations,” a flash fiction collection by Kevin Brockmeier. All the stories involve ghosts in some way, but they range from scary to funny, charming to thought-provoking. And they’re short.
by Emily Bright

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