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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 the archives: Historian Eric Foner on three constitutional amendments that altered history

From the archives: Historian Eric Foner on three constitutional amendments that altered history

In anticipation of Friday’s show about the Civil War, we’re revisiting a conversation Kerri Miller had with Pulitzer-prize winning author Eric Foner back in 2019, about how that era changed what it means to be an American.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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A kids' book travels through history to ask: Where does 'Blue' come from?

A kids' book travels through history to ask: Where does 'Blue' come from?

The color blue is all around us, but where does it come from? In Blue, written by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and illustrated by Daniel Minter, the answer is as deep as the sea and wide as the sky.
by Samantha Balaban

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Wajahat Ali on being American with an asterisk

Wajahat Ali on being American with an asterisk

Writer and activist Wajahat Ali loves America — but he knows that being a brown, Muslim in this country means America doesn’t always love him back. In his personal and often hilarious memoir, “Go Back To Where You Came From,” Ali shares his own experience of being both "us" and "them."
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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'The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea' asks: What is it that defines our destiny?

'The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea' asks: What is it that defines our destiny?

Axie Oh's retelling of "The Tale of Shim Cheong" explores what happens when love of family changes the trajectory of those involved in the Sea God's search for a hundredth, and final, bride.
by Alethea Kontis

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'Glory' nods to Orwell as animals explore survival under a corrupt government

'Glory' nods to Orwell as animals explore survival under a corrupt government

NoViolet Bulawayo's book expresses a people's frustration, terror, resilience, uprising and hope in a way that can be applied to a multitude of nations and political realities around the globe.
by Ilana Masad

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Sandy Hook ushered in new era of conspiracy and lies, author finds

Sandy Hook ushered in new era of conspiracy and lies, author finds

Following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school, journalist Elizabeth Williamson says, conspiracy theorists tormented the victims' families by accusing them of being actors.
by Dave Davies

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