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.

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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.

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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.

November 25, 2020 11:14 AM

Chef David Chang on depression, being a dad and the burden of 'authenticity'

The Momofuku chef says COVID-19 has introduced "seismic" changes to his industry. "We're doing anything and everything to to stay afloat," he says. Chang's new memoir is “Eat a Peach.”

by Terry Gross

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November 24, 2020 3:15 PM

‘Work Like a Boss’ with advice from a boss who works

Nancy Lyons pulls no punches in her book about leadership — which was written before the pandemic. Can the workplace still function — without the place?

by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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November 24, 2020 2:50 PM

Nikki Giovanni on ‘Make Me Rain’

Award-winning poet Nikki Giovanni shares the inspiration behind her latest collection of poetry titled “Make Me Rain.”

by Kerri Miller

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November 24, 2020 10:19 AM

In the Poppy War series, R.F. Kuang asks: 'What if Mao was a teenage girl?'

The third volume in Kuang's Poppy War series is out now. She grounded the story in history, both her own and China's; it follows a passionate, ruthless young woman who becomes a military leader.

by Alan Yu

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November 24, 2020 7:26 AM

Kwame Alexander offers new poems on race and hope as 'psalms and balms' for the soul

In “Light For The World To See: A Thousand Words On Race And Hope,” Kwame Alexander writes of the killing of George Floyd, Colin Kaepernick's kneeling protests, and the election of Barack Obama.

by Rachel Martin

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November 23, 2020 9:19 AM

Pope Francis' book explores George Floyd, virus skeptics

In a new book “Let Us Dream,” Pope Francis is supporting demands for racial justice in the wake of the U.S. police killing of George Floyd and is blasting COVID-19 skeptics and the media that spread their conspiracies.

by The Associated Press

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November 22, 2020 5:41 PM

'Even As We Breathe': A first novel from a teacher who writes for her students

The book is a mystery of sorts, set at an upscale North Carolina resort during World War II. Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle teaches at a high school with a student population that's 30 percent Native American.

by Neda Ulaby

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November 22, 2020 6:00 AM

'Nights When Nothing Happened' is quietly lovely — maybe a little too quiet

Simon Han's debut novel follows a Chinese immigrant family in Texas, whose fragile peace is shattered after the father is wrongly accused of a crime, and it's up to the kids to restore balance.

by Leland Cheuk

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November 21, 2020 6:00 AM

'These Violent Delights' transports Romeo and Juliet to 1920s Shanghai

Chloe Gong's new novel has some of the important aspects of Shakespeare's famous tragedy — but more than anything else, it's a rich portrait of a time and place not often seen in literature.

by Caitlyn Paxson

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November 21, 2020 6:00 AM

Ask a Bookseller: 'The Most Spectacular Mistake'

Bookseller Sarah Rafael Garcia of LibroMobile in Santa Ana California recommended a poetry collection this week: “The Most Spectacular Mistake” by Anatalia Vallez.

by Emily Bright

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