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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.

In J. Ryan Stradal's new book, the Midwest supper club is a character unto itself

In J. Ryan Stradal's new book, the Midwest supper club is a character unto itself

“Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club” is a family drama set in and around a supper club in the fictional northern Minnesota town of Bear Jaw. Author J. Ryan Stradal says it’s “the kind of book you can’t take the Minnesota out of in editing.”
by Tom Crann

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'Symphony of Secrets' is an ode to music stolen and composers erased

'Symphony of Secrets' is an ode to music stolen and composers erased

Brendan Slocumb returns to Big Books and Bold Ideas with another musical mystery. This time, he’s tell the story of a musicologist who uncovers a betrayal by his favorite composer.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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How dogs become themselves and other wonders of puppyhood

How dogs become themselves and other wonders of puppyhood

Animal Month on Big Books and Bold Ideas ends with an encore presentation of host Kerri Miller’s conversation with dog researcher Alexandra Horowitz who literally wrote the book on puppies.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Environmental journalist Oliver Milman on why you should care about 'The Insect Crisis'

Environmental journalist Oliver Milman on why you should care about 'The Insect Crisis'

Environmental journalist Oliver Milman says we are experiencing an unprecedented crisis in the world of insects. And it’s bad news for humans, too.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Diet culture can hurt kids. This author advises parents to reclaim the word 'fat'

Diet culture can hurt kids. This author advises parents to reclaim the word 'fat'

Journalist Virginia Sole-Smith says efforts to fight childhood obesity have caused kids to absorb an onslaught of body-shaming messages. Her new book is “Fat Talk.”
by Tonya Mosley

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Ask a Bookseller: 'The God of Endings'

Ask a Bookseller: 'The God of Endings'

Josh Hames recommends local writer Jacqueline Holland, new novel, "The God of Endings." It's an unconventional vampire story, Hames says, that's a "genuinely felt human tale as much as it is inhuman."
by Emily Bright

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Encore presentation: Science journalist Ed Yong on how animals sense the world

Encore presentation: Science journalist Ed Yong on how animals sense the world

Animal Month on Big Books and Bold Ideas wouldn’t be complete without an encore presentation of a conversation host Kerri Miller had last year with award-winning science journalist Ed Yong. His book, “An Immense World,” looks at how different animals see the world, based on their unique sensory abilities.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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