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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.

'Tender' stories are a feast of ideas

'Tender' stories are a feast of ideas

Sofia Samatar is the creator of an award-winning fantasy world; she sticks closer to earth in her powerful first story collection, but it's not always the earth we might recognize.
by Jason Heller

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From 'f-bomb' to 'photobomb,' how the dictionary keeps up with English

From 'f-bomb' to 'photobomb,' how the dictionary keeps up with English

For a new word to enter the dictionary, it must meet three criteria: widespread use, sustained use and meaningful use. Merriam-Webster lexicographer Kory Stamper explains the process in 'Word by Word.'
by Terry Gross

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren on her new book, 'This Fight is Our Fight'

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on her new book, 'This Fight is Our Fight'

"Everybody's got to get out there and find the piece that they can do," the Democratic Massachusetts senator says. She talks to NPR's Audie Cornish about her new book, the middle class and activism.
by Audie Cornish

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"Shattered" picks through the broken pieces of Hillary Clinton's dream

"Shattered" picks through the broken pieces of Hillary Clinton's dream

A new book goes behind the scenes of Clinton's presidential bid. "There is no Big Reveal," says NPR's Ron Elving. "Instead we get a slow-building case against [her campaign's] concept and execution."
by Ron Elving

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In the 1920s, a community conspired to kill Native Americans for their oil money

In the 1920s, a community conspired to kill Native Americans for their oil money

The Osage tribe in Oklahoma became spectacularly wealthy in the early 1900s - and then members started turning up dead. David Grann's "Killers of the Flower Moon" describes the dark plot against them.
by Steve Inskeep

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'The Book of Joan' recasts a historic heroine--in space

'The Book of Joan' recasts a historic heroine--in space

Lidia Yuknavitch's fascination with Joan of Arc informs her new novel, set in a grim future where humanity is sexless and ageless, prisoners in a technological hell ruled by a malevolent billionaire.
by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

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Fitzgerald didn't satisfy this author, so she wrote her own 'Gatsby'-inspired novel

Fitzgerald didn't satisfy this author, so she wrote her own 'Gatsby'-inspired novel

Stephanie Powell Watts' 'No One Is Coming to Save Us' isn't quite a retelling of 'The Great Gatsby'; instead, it uses similar themes to tell a story about black characters in a declining furniture town.
by Ari Shapiro

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