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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.

Court life is murder in 'The Poison Bed'

Court life is murder in 'The Poison Bed'

Elizabeth Fremantle's twisty, deceptive new novel is based on the real-life story of the Earl and Countess of Somerset, who were convicted in the murder of a friend-turned-enemy in 1616.
by Bethanne Patrick

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In 'Stony the Road,' Henry Louis Gates Jr. looks at the period after Reconstruction

In 'Stony the Road,' Henry Louis Gates Jr. looks at the period after Reconstruction

In his new book, the literary scholar presents an absorbing, necessary look at the "Redemption" era, in which the hard-fought gains of African-Americans were rolled back by embittered Southern whites.
by Michael Schaub

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'Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss' is smart, comforting sentiment

'Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss' is smart, comforting sentiment

Rajeev Balasubramanyam's fourth novel follows a cantankerous yet sympathetic economics professor whose life is upended after he fails yet again to win a Nobel Prize (among other, lesser catastrophes).
by Heller McAlpin

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This is for 'The Undefeated': A new picture book celebrates black brilliance

This is for 'The Undefeated': A new picture book celebrates black brilliance

Kadir Nelson was inspired by Kwame Alexander's poem. It "spoke to excellence, and perseverance, and triumph amidst adversity," Nelson says. "It was an ode to the sung and unsung heroes in history."
by Ari Shapiro

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Barbara Bush saw Trump as a 'symbol of greed'

Barbara Bush saw Trump as a 'symbol of greed'

A new biography of the former first lady finds that her disdain for the Republican president, who transformed the party her own family had embodied for generations into his likeness, dates as least as far back as a 1990s diary entry.
by The Associated Press

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