The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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'Want' captures the precariousness of America's middle class
The family at the center of Lynn Steger Strong's novel is on the brink of bankruptcy. “Want” is a portrait of how close to the edge people are — despite the seeming safeguard of middle-class jobs.
'The stakes are far higher than they've ever been': Trump's niece pens tell-all
Mary Trump offers a scathing portrait of the president in a book that very nearly was blocked from publication. Now its publisher is bumping up the release date, and excerpts are starting to surface.
Journalist Kim Wall's parents show she was more than a victim in 'A Silenced Voice'
Kim Wall was 30 when she was killed by a source. Her parents are working to make sure her name will not be a warning but a tag under ambitious investigative pieces, a line on resumes, a calling card.
Privilege takes many forms in 'Friends and Strangers'
J. Courtney Sullivan's new novel examines the relationship between a mother and her child's caregiver — both women with significant degrees of privilege, despite their surface economic differences.
New book teaches kids 'How to Solve a Problem' like a rock climber would
Ashima Shiraishi may be one of the most talented rock climbers in the world, but lofty titles aside, she wants kids to know that most of climbing — and life — is "just falling."