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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.

Take it to the Lake: Three booksellers share their must-read summer titles

Take it to the Lake: Three booksellers share their must-read summer titles

How adventurous is your summer reading list this year? MPR News host Kerri Miller talks with there booksellers who give us nine must-read, fairly new titles during her “Take it to the Lake” summer reading special.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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From the archives: The science — and joy — of sweat

From the archives: The science — and joy — of sweat

Are you ready to sweat? This conversation from July 2021 will get you in the mood. It will also whet your appetite for this Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas show, a “Take it to the Lake” special, where three booksellers recommend the best books for summer reading.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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8 books to celebrate Pride Month

8 books to celebrate Pride Month

From books about the history of AIDS activism and affecting personal narratives to cozy mysteries and plenty of romance, we've rounded up eight books to help you mark Pride Month.
by Fi O'Reilly

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Columnist Tamar Haspel on the joy and adventure of firsthand food

Columnist Tamar Haspel on the joy and adventure of firsthand food

Prolific food journalist and self-proclaimed “crappy gardener” Tamar Haspel chronicles her adventures to raise or grow her own food in her new book, “To Boldly Grow.” It’s a funny and practical look at the joys and challenges of firsthand food.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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From the archives: The gift of a garden in troubled times

From the archives: The gift of a garden in troubled times

On this Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, MPR News host Kerri Miller talks with Tamar Haspel about her garden, which Haspel details in her new book “To Boldly Grow.” So we thought it was fitting to bring back a warm and introspective conversation with landscape designer Rebecca Winn for this week’s deep-cut track, where Winn shares how her garden was her restoration after heartbreak.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Author Marie Myung-Ok Lee on her new novel 'The Evening Hero'

Author Marie Myung-Ok Lee on her new novel 'The Evening Hero'

Minnesota-born Marie Myung-Ok Lee mines her own history for a wry new novel about a northern Minnesota doctor who learns his hospital is being closed by the corporation that bought it. That decision upends a previously quiet and controlled life. On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, host Kerri Miller talks with Lee about her new novel, “The Evening Hero.”
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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From the archives: Dr. Abraham Verghese on his novel, 'Cutting for Stone'

From the archives: Dr. Abraham Verghese on his novel, 'Cutting for Stone'

This Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas is a conversation with novelist Marie Myung Ok-Lee. Her new novel, “The Evening Hero,” is about changes in rural medicine, as told through the eyes of a physician who practices at a northern Minnesota hospital. To whet your appetite, we are bringing back one of host Kerri Miller’s all-time favorite Talking Volume conversations, with Dr. Abraham Verghese, practicing doctor and author of one of the great modern classics, “Cutting for Stone.”
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Ask a Bookseller: Groundhog’s Day meets freshman year of college

Ask a Bookseller: Groundhog’s Day meets freshman year of college

Barrett Bloom is a freshman in college having a terrible day. She shows up at her Physics 101 class only to be put on the spot in front of everyone for no reason by her unbearably annoying classmate, Miles. She’s never even seen him before! Or has she?
by Emily Bright

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Writer Meghan O'Rourke discusses the invisibility of chronic illness

Writer Meghan O'Rourke discusses the invisibility of chronic illness

Trying to pinpoint the source of a chronic illness is a murky road for patients, especially when their symptoms morph and move around the body. Writer Meghan O’Rourke found herself hitting dead ends when trying to get a diagnosis for her disease. She joins MPR News host Kerri Miller in this edition of Big Books and Bold Ideas to talk about how we might better see those who suffer from a chronic illness.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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