The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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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.

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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.

November 15, 2019 3:30 PM

In new book, Minnesota author draws attention to 'horrific' time in state's history

While she did not know her maternal grandmother, Sheila O’Connor now knows that in 1935, she gave birth at the age of 15 and — as punishment — was committed to the Minnesota Homeschool for Girls in Sauk Center, Minn., for six years.

by Tom Crann, Sara Porter and Kyle Shiely

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November 14, 2019 3:28 PM

Talking Volumes: Karen Armstrong on ‘The Lost Art of Scripture’

Karen Armstrong joined Kerri Miller on stage at the Fitzgerald Theater for Talking Volumes, where she spoke about the need to transform Scripture into “practical action.”

by Kerri Miller and Marcheta Fornoff

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November 14, 2019 12:23 PM

In 'A Warning,' an invisible hand rings a somber alarm

President Trump, we are told in this soon-to-be-published book, has destroyed the guardrails thoughtful people tried to erect around him. Further, he has banished nearly all those thoughtful people.

by Ron Elving

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November 14, 2019 12:13 PM

'I Am Happy Because I Survived': Refugee writer is free after years in detention

Behrouz Boochani won Australia's richest literary prize earlier this year — but the asylum-seeker, detained offshore, couldn't accept in person. Now, he has made it to New Zealand with a message.

by Colin Dwyer

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November 14, 2019 6:00 AM

'Queen of the Conquered' serves revenge with delicacy and savagery

In their new novel, Kacen Callender builds a vast, immersive landscape based on the colonial history of the Caribbean, but it's their morally conflicted heroine who will really hook readers.

by Jason Heller

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November 13, 2019 3:09 PM

'The Great Pretender' investigates a landmark moment in psychiatric history

In the '70s David Rosenhan and seven "pseudopatients" went undercover in mental health wards. Their resulting article rocked the psychiatric world. But Susannah Cahalan struggled to confirm the facts.

by Maureen Corrigan

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November 13, 2019 12:17 PM

In memoir, Nikki Haley hammers White House team but pledges allegiance to Trump

In “With All Due Respect,” the former U.N. ambassador says Trump's ex-Chief of Staff John Kelly and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked her to help them "save the country" from the president.

by Ron Elving

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November 13, 2019 8:00 AM

Novelist doctor skewers corporate medicine in 'Man's 4th Best Hospital'

Samuel Shem's 1978 novel, “The House of God,” was a sardonic look at U.S. medicine through a young doctor's eyes. Shem's new fiction checks in with the same crew in the age of medicine by smartphone.

by Mara Gordon

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November 13, 2019 7:42 AM

What happens to your used stuff? 'Secondhand' tells of a billion-dollar industry

As "traditional bonds disintegrate in the face of industrialization, urbanization, and secularization, brands and objects become a means to curate and project who we are," writes reporter Adam Minter.

by Gabino Iglesias

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November 13, 2019 6:00 AM

'Mama Hissa's Mice' creep through a dystopian future Kuwait

Saud Alsanousi's novel follows a group of Kuwaiti kids growing up in the 1980s — then jumps to a near future torn by sectarian violence. It's a resonant book that asks more questions than it answers.

by Ilana Masad

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