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.

November 4, 2019 9:09 AM

In 'Get a Life, Chloe Brown,' love doesn't cure all — but it sure is fun

Talia Hibbert's new novel stars Chloe, who's determined to get a life after years of coping with chronic pain, and Red, the mysterious and extremely annoying (at first) super at her new building.

by Denny S. Bryce

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November 3, 2019 4:41 PM

'Felon' author says, 'everybody has to tell their kids something'

Lawyer-poet Reginald Dwayne Betts for years hid the fact that he had served time in prison. Now, this time in his life is at the center of his new collection of poems.

by Leila Fadel

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November 3, 2019 6:00 AM

You'll float away on the warm waters of 'The Starless Sea'

Erin Morgenstern's long-awaited followup to The Night Circus imagines a world of magical doors leading to a literal underground sea — surrounded by layers of pleasurable mystery and mythography.

by Amal El-Mohtar

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November 2, 2019 6:00 AM

Kevin Wilson is on fire in 'Nothing to See Here'

Wilson's new novel centers on a young woman taking care of two kids with a disturbing ability: When upset, they burst into flames. But in Wilson's hands, what could be scary is funny, even beautiful.

by Heller McAlpin

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November 1, 2019 7:03 PM

You may have to wait to borrow a new e-book from the library

Macmillan Publishers Ltd. will begin restricting sales of new e-books to libraries to one per library system for the first eight weeks after publication. Libraries are fighting back.

by Lynn Neary

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November 1, 2019 3:24 PM

The stunning memoir that could make Hemingway jealous

Bookseller Jinny Amundson recommends a memoir by Beryl Markham, the first person to fly solo, nonstop across the Atlantic from east to west.

by Tracy Mumford

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October 31, 2019 6:00 AM

'Eat Joy': Top authors serve up recipes that gave them comfort in dark times

In a new book of essays, writers such as Claire Messud and Edwidge Danticat share stories of surviving dark times and the foods entwined with those memories. Think of it as a cathartic dinner party.

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October 30, 2019 6:31 PM

Racial unrest of early '90s Los Angeles resurfaces in 'Your House Will Pay'

Steph Cha's new novel takes place in the present day, but she connects her story of Korean American and black communities in LA to the riots and injustices of nearly three decades ago.

by Ailsa Chang

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October 30, 2019 1:46 PM

For author Kevin Wilson, writing offers a brief reprieve from Tourette's

For Wilson, Tourette's syndrome means living with intrusive thoughts that flash disturbing images without warning. His novel, Nothing to See Here, was inspired by visions of spontaneous combustion.

by Terry Gross

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October 30, 2019 9:18 AM

In 'Females,' the state is less a biological condition than an existential one

Beneath the veneer of provocation, Andrea Long Chu's book is surprisingly tender, aiming to care for a universal ache — the frayed knot of selfhood, desire and power.

by Marissa Lorusso

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