The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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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.

May 19, 2020 5:01 AM

In 'Dark Mirror,' reporter concludes: 'Snowden did substantially more good than harm'

Edward Snowden handpicked Barton Gellman as one of three journalists he would work with to reveal government secrets. Gellman's book is an in-depth look at where he agreed and disagreed with Snowden.

by Greg Myre

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May 19, 2020 3:59 AM

'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' is a lackluster prequel to 'The Hunger Games'

While Suzanne Collins leaves readers uncertain of the answer to the question she poses in “The Hunger Games” — how much of character is innate, how much formed — it becomes painfully obvious here.

by Annalisa Quinn

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May 18, 2020 4:34 PM

Thread Must-Read: Curtis Sittenfeld's 'Rodham'

The novel “Rodham” explores what might have been for Hillary Clinton if she hadn’t married Bill Clinton. Kerri Miller shares her experience reading this what-if tale.

by Kerri Miller

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May 17, 2020 6:00 AM

Finding love — and feeling worthy of it — in 'Felix Ever After'

Kacen Callender's new young adult novel centers on a queer, trans teen trying to find out who's behind a traumatizing transphobic act — a quest that takes him on an emotional roller coaster.

by Elise Hu

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May 16, 2020 6:00 AM

Classic literature meets modern teen drama in 'By The Book'

In Amanda Sellet's charming young adult romance, a teenage bookworm transfers to the local public high school and discovers that the literary classics she lives by aren't quite a match for real life.

by Alethea Kontis

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May 15, 2020 5:27 PM

A novel that is 'great, sometimes cringe-worthy, fun to read'

Unlikely romance blooming in a hospital room? This novel is one of bookseller Danny Caine’s favorites of the year.

by Tracy Mumford

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May 13, 2020 11:01 PM

'Wuhan Diary' brings account of China's coronavirus outbreak to English speakers

Before COVID-19 engulfed the Chinese city of Wuhan, Fang Fang was already an award-winning novelist. But her chronicle of the lockdown of her hometown might be her most lasting work.

by Emily Feng

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May 13, 2020 1:02 PM

'Here We Are': What would Philip Roth have made of all this?

Benjamin Taylor, one of Roth's closest friends during the last decades of his life, has written a memoir that rekindles Roth's voice: brilliant, profane, and so very funny.

by Maureen Corrigan

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May 13, 2020 10:38 AM

Remembering the lost village of Chippewa City

North of Grand Marais along Highway 61, a white clapboard church stands as one of the only reminders of what was once a small community called Chippewa City.

by Cathy Wurzer

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May 13, 2020 3:59 AM

'Funny Weather' asks what art can do in a crisis

At her best, Olivia Laing turns criticism into an elevated form of hospitality: Like a good party host, she introduces you to someone, tells you what she likes about them, then leaves you to it.

by Annalisa Quinn

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