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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.

A Minneapolis writer invents new words to help us process our collective malaise

A Minneapolis writer invents new words to help us process our collective malaise

As we close the book on another strange year, we look to a new book for help understanding difficult emotions: “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.” Minnesota author John Koenig joined host Cathy Wurzer to discuss the power of words and examine some of his creations.
by Cathy Wurzer and Kelly Gordon

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2022 must-reads from Kerri Miller: 3 nonfictions to top your 2022 to-be-read list

2022 must-reads from Kerri Miller: 3 nonfictions to top your 2022 to-be-read list

Kerri Miller introduces you to the last three books in her year-end must-reads of 2021.
by Kerri Miller

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Graphic novel 'Tunnels,' about archaeology in Israel, excavates human motivations

Graphic novel 'Tunnels,' about archaeology in Israel, excavates human motivations

Through her work, Israeli comics artist Rutu Modan suggests that only cartoon characters can possibly reflect the cartoonish levels of greed and self-deceit revealed as her tale unspools.
by Etelka Lehoczky

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Ask a Bookseller: Loved the movie? Try reading 'Dune'

Ask a Bookseller: Loved the movie? Try reading 'Dune'

Isaac Frankel of Peregrine Book Company in Prescott, Ariz., has fond memories of picking his father's copy of Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel "Dune" off the shelf and reading it for the first time. Now, he says he's seen a huge interest in the “Dune” series since the new film version came out this fall.
by Emily Bright

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For queer Seoulites in 'Love in the Big City,' pride and shame intertwine

For queer Seoulites in 'Love in the Big City,' pride and shame intertwine

Sang Young Park's novel can be read as an anthropological approach to Seoulite queer lives in the 21st century: Its four linked stories capture the experience of being both visible and unacknowledged.
by Thúy Đinh

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In 'The Four Humors,' a woman delves into the past on a journey of self-discovery

In 'The Four Humors,' a woman delves into the past on a journey of self-discovery

Turkish American writer Mina Seçkin's debut is an engrossing exploration of national identity, the meaning of family and loss, and what happens when a family hides its central secret.
by Martha Anne Toll

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'The Veiled Throne' keeps the flame of the Dandelion Dynasty burning on every page

'The Veiled Throne' keeps the flame of the Dandelion Dynasty burning on every page

A thousand pages is a lot. But there's Ken Liu's voice to hold onto in this third installment of his epic — beautifully deployed and fully in command of the language of his imaginary universe.
by Jason Sheehan

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In 'Sea State,' life gets rocky when a journalist gets involved with her subject

In 'Sea State,' life gets rocky when a journalist gets involved with her subject

Tabitha Lasley spent six months in Aberdeen, Scotland, interviewing men who work on offshore oil rigs. Along the way, she had an all-consuming affair with one of the very first men she interviewed.
by Maureen Corrigan

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