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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.

Immortality, sadness and drinking with Shakespeare in 'How to Stop Time'

Immortality, sadness and drinking with Shakespeare in 'How to Stop Time'

Matt Haig's new novel isn't exactly about time travel -- it's about a slow-aging man who travels through time just by staying alive for centuries. And yes, he meets Shakespeare (who has bad breath).
by Jason Sheehan

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After 16 years, Afghanistan war is 'at best a grinding stalemate,' journalist says

After 16 years, Afghanistan war is 'at best a grinding stalemate,' journalist says

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll warns that there is no end in sight to America's longest war: "Most of the generals ... say in public, 'There's no military solution to this war.'"
by Terry Gross

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Former agent says, 'Border Patrol does good work ... but there's tension there'

Former agent says, 'Border Patrol does good work ... but there's tension there'

In "The Line Becomes a River," Francisco Cantu looks back on his time as a Border Patrol agent. He says, in his experience, "No matter what obstacle we put at the border, it's going to be subverted."
by Steve Inskeep

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After 17 brushes with death, a writer reflects on coming 'back from the brink'

After 17 brushes with death, a writer reflects on coming 'back from the brink'

Maggie O'Farrell recounts the multiple times she cheated death in her memoir, "I Am, I Am, I Am." "We're different people afterwards," she says. "These experiences always take up residence inside us."
by Terry Gross

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In 'A More Beautiful and Terrible History,' fuel for the fight ahead

In 'A More Beautiful and Terrible History,' fuel for the fight ahead

Jeanne Theoharis' new book re-examines civil rights history and the way it's been manipulated. "It is used to make us feel good about ourselves, to make us feel good about our progress," she says.
by Michel Martin

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