The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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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.

December 11, 2019 9:30 AM

Librarian Nancy Pearl shares 4 fantastic books for the end of 2019

Our go-to librarian says there are plenty of readers who find that "fiction gives you the truth of history and nonfiction gives you the facts." With that in mind, she shares some new titles.

by Nancy Pearl

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December 10, 2019 5:32 AM

Merriam-Webster declares 'they' its 2019 word of the year

The word and its emergence as a nonbinary alternative to "he" and "she" experienced a 313 percent increase in look-ups on Merriam-Webster.com.

by The Associated Press

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December 9, 2019 10:13 AM

Sprawling 'Revisionaries' impresses and exasperates in equal measures

A.R. Moxon's surreal, inexplicable novel is a literary puzzle box that takes place across at least four levels of reality, in at least five typefaces — and yet, it's compulsively readable.

by Amal El-Mohtar

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December 8, 2019 7:03 AM

In 'Parker Looks Up,' a 2-year-old shares a moment with Michelle Obama

In 2018, a photo of Parker Curry looking at a portrait of Michelle Obama went viral. Within a week, she got to meet the first lady. Parker tells the story in a new book she co-authored with her mom.

by Samantha Balaban

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December 7, 2019 9:00 AM

'Reverie' dreams outside the box

Ryan LaSala's new novel imagines a world where people get swept up in dangerous, all-encompassing dreams — and only a damaged, anmesiac kid and his friends have the power to fight them.

by Caitlyn Paxson

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December 6, 2019 4:32 PM

'This Book Is Not For You' -- but it is

This book is almost impossible to describe without revealing too much, according to bookseller Sarah Wilson: “It’s very intriguing, it’s got a very dark, humorous edge to it.”

by Tracy Mumford

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December 6, 2019 3:00 PM

Got a young reader on your holiday gift list? Here are some options

Are you shopping for gifts for that special child or teenager in your life? How about a book? On Friday, MPR News host Angela Davis was joined by two local children’s book experts. They offered up some of the best titles for kids and teens this holiday season.

by Jim Bickal, Mike Moen, Angela Davis and Karen Zamora

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December 5, 2019 9:14 AM

'1973: Rock at the Crossroads' acts as a mirror for one moment in time

Via popular music, Andrew Grant Jackson paints a vivid portrait of a year that was the last gasp of an age of possibility, when idealism gave way to economic recession and cynical disillusionment.

by Michael Schaub

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December 5, 2019 6:00 AM

'At the Mountains of Madness,' spheroid space monsters are just like us

Gou Tanabe's graphic novel adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's novella makes its monsters both terrifying and weirdly human. Even if space spheres aren't your thing, Tanabe's art still prompts wonder.

by Etelka Lehoczky

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December 4, 2019 4:09 PM

He was a horse that never won a race. So why should someone steal him?

On Christmas Eve 2004, Urgent Envoy disappeared from his stable in the middle of the night. He had finished his only ever race in last place, but that didn't matter to the trainer who took him.

by Taylor Haney

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