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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.

'American Utopia' book argues for the reincarnation of hope in the American project

'American Utopia' book argues for the reincarnation of hope in the American project

The work is much more like reading a book-length poem than reading a play, though few poems or poetry collections come filled with charming illustrations of trees, dancers, and party-hatted dogs.
by Lily Meyer

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New book examines how the 1st Amendment sits at the forefront in an election year

New book examines how the 1st Amendment sits at the forefront in an election year

Right now, we have "an entire government apparatus designed to foster falsehoods," says editor Ellis Cose, who has written a new book, “The Short Life and Curious Death of Free Speech in America.”
by Michel Martin

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A new picture book reminds Black sons: You are 'every good thing'

A new picture book reminds Black sons: You are 'every good thing'

When Derrick Barnes began writing children's books 15 years ago, he didn't see Black kids — boys in particular — depicted in positive, affirming ways. Barnes has four sons of his own and he wrote his new book — “I Am Every Good Thing” — to be empowering and affirming.
by Samantha Balaban

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Yes, there's conflict — but no one's the bad guy in 'Memorial'

Yes, there's conflict — but no one's the bad guy in 'Memorial'

Bryan Washington's debut novel brings together an eclectic cast of characters who redefine family. He says he wanted to write about people operating from a place of love, rather than disdain or hate.
by Scott Simon

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History and hatred drive the horror in 'Ring Shout'

History and hatred drive the horror in 'Ring Shout'

P. Djèlí Clark's new novella is set in an alternate Jim Crow America where the Ku Klux Klan contains actual pointy-headed white demons, and “The Birth Of a Nation” is not just a film but an incantation.
by Danny Lore

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