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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.

From meet-cutes to happy endings, romance readers feel the love as sales heat up

From meet-cutes to happy endings, romance readers feel the love as sales heat up

Romance novel sales are surging, even as overall book sales experience their first decline in years. And no, fans are not embarrassed by their love of the genre.
by Elena Burnett, Juana Summers and Sarah Handel

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Unlocking desire through smut; plus, the gospel of bell hooks

Unlocking desire through smut; plus, the gospel of bell hooks

This week, we're asking: do the fantasies we read in romance novels say anything about what we want in our real-life relationships?
by Brittany Luse, Jessica Placzek, Liam McBain, Corey Antonio Rose and Veralyn Williams

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From the archives: Shannon Gibney on 'Dream Country'

From the archives: Shannon Gibney on 'Dream Country'

Minneapolis author Shannon Gibney just published her memoir. But it’s probably unlike any memoir you’ve read before. She’ll tell MPR News host Kerri Miller about it on Friday’s episode of Big Books and Bold Ideas. Until then, enjoy this 2018 conversation between Miller and Gibney when her second book, “Dream Country,” had just come out.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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3 books in translation that have received acclaim in their original languages

3 books in translation that have received acclaim in their original languages

On a Woman's Madness and Forbidden Notebook have been highly lauded in their original languages for decades but, like the more recent Black Foam, inaccessible to English readers — until now.
by Lily Meyer

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'Brutes' captures the simultaneous impatience and mercurial swings of girlhood

'Brutes' captures the simultaneous impatience and mercurial swings of girlhood

In plunging us into the collective mind of a group of girls watching the search for a missing girl, author Dizz Tate creates an original, stylistically ambitious take on well-trodden subject matter.
by Kristen Martin

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'Black on Black' celebrates Black culture while exploring history and racial tension

'Black on Black' celebrates Black culture while exploring history and racial tension

Daniel Black's essays call for an overhaul of the U.S. criminal justice system, of the Black church, of the way Black people see themselves, and of the country itself — and do so with authority
by Gabino Iglesias

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Activist Alice Wong reflects on 'The Year of the Tiger' and her hopes for 2023

Activist Alice Wong reflects on 'The Year of the Tiger' and her hopes for 2023

In the Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, Alice Wong shares pieces of her story and experience as a disabled Asian American through a collection of essays, interviews, photos and illustrations.
by Thomas Lu

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