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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.

Ask a Bookseller: 'Ahmed Aziz's Epic Year' from April 2022

Ask a Bookseller: 'Ahmed Aziz's Epic Year' from April 2022

Shannon Brown of Wishing Tree Books in Spokane recommends Nina Hamza's debut novel, "Ahmed Aziz's Epic Year." "I love that the story doesn't talk down to children about the hard times they are going through," said Brown.
by Emily Bright

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Online disinformation expert Joan Donovan on the power of memes

Online disinformation expert Joan Donovan on the power of memes

Memes have been used since America’s founding to motivate political action. But Harvard researcher and online disinformation expert Joan Donovan says they’ve never been so powerful. Her new book says they even incited the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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MPR News staff picks for 2022 books

MPR News staff picks for 2022 books

Being journalists, we write a lot — but do we read? We asked our staff what their favorite books published in 2022 were. Here’s their reviews.
by Sam Stroozas

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Formative characters: Three Minnesota authors share their favorites

Formative characters: Three Minnesota authors share their favorites

For the last Big Books and Bold Ideas of 2022, MPR News host Kerri Miller asked three Minnesota writers — Peter Geye, Shannon Gibney and Benjamin Percy — to talk about their favorite literary characters. Their choices were unexpected and delightful.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Banned Books: Author Jerry Craft on telling stories all kids can identify with

Banned Books: Author Jerry Craft on telling stories all kids can identify with

Jerry Craft published the Newbury award-winning graphic novel New Kid in 2019. The novel focuses on the experience of being Black and the "new kid" at a predominantly white school.
by Pilar Galvan, Reena Advani and A Martínez

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Ask a Bookseller: 'Inheritance'

Ask a Bookseller: 'Inheritance'

Nathan McDowell of Two Dollar Radio Headquarters — an indie bookstore and press in Columbus, Ohio — recommends Taylor Johnson’s poetry book “Inheritance.”
by Emily Bright

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Jane Smiley on her new novel, 'A Dangerous Business'

Jane Smiley on her new novel, 'A Dangerous Business'

Two young prostitutes become uneasy when several women in their dangerous line of work disappear. Jane Smiley’s new novel follows them as they try to solve the murders in 1850s California.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Marcie Rendon's long journey to award-winning novelist

Marcie Rendon's long journey to award-winning novelist

Writer Marcie Rendon lived a lot before she got her first novel published. Now the White Earth Member has released three books in the award-winning Cash Blackbear series. Recently, she visited the Bemidji Public Library in northwest Minnesota, to read and to talk about the history, locations and experiences behind the books.
by Mathew Holding Eagle III

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