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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.

If these 2 titles remind you of masterful suspense novels, they should

If these 2 titles remind you of masterful suspense novels, they should

Laura Lippman's Lady in the Lake recollects Raymond Chandler's fourth Philip Marlowe novel and Ruth Ware's The Turn of the Key recalls Henry James' The Turn of the Screw. Happily, they both live up.
by Maureen Corrigan

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Fast food, the 494 strip and pickup basketball molded a sportswriter

Fast food, the 494 strip and pickup basketball molded a sportswriter

Bloomington native Steve Rushin’s second memoir “Nights in White Castle” capture his teen years in the Twin Cities suburbs, and how they helped him capture his dream job as a Sports Illustrated staff writer.
by Euan Kerr

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In 'Gods with a Little G,' the kids are alright

In 'Gods with a Little G,' the kids are alright

Tupelo Hassman's novel about a group of teenagers at loose ends in a tiny town run by Christian fundamentalists has some dark moments, but ultimately it's as heartwarming as it is beautifully written.
by Michael Schaub

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'Inland' creates a new myth of the Old West

'Inland' creates a new myth of the Old West

Téa Obreht's new novel is set against a familiar old West backdrop, but it tells a fresh story of two people, both haunted in their own ways — a tough frontier woman and an immigrant camel driver.
by Lily Meyer

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'Lithium' is a homage to a drug — and to the renegade side of science

'Lithium' is a homage to a drug — and to the renegade side of science

By celebrating those who applied the substance as a drug, Walter A. Brown aims to raise awareness — and to demolish what remains of the myth that scientific progress is driven by rigorous dispassion.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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