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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.

'Shadow Network' offers a lesson on the American right's mastery of politics

'Shadow Network' offers a lesson on the American right's mastery of politics

Anne Nelson links "the manpower and media of the Christian right," "finances of Western plutocrats," and "strategy of right-wing Republican political operatives" via the Council for National Policy.
by Michael Schaub

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Blending memoir and reporting, 'The In-Betweens' exposes an otherworldly community

Blending memoir and reporting, 'The In-Betweens' exposes an otherworldly community

Mira Ptacin spends time at Camp Etna and finds herself believing, at least, in the ideals of Spiritualism — emphasizing kindness, the importance of intuition, and the power of the unseen.
by Genevieve Valentine

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'It Would Be Night in Caracas' mourns a mother and a country

'It Would Be Night in Caracas' mourns a mother and a country

Karina Sainz Borgo's novel follows a woman dealing with the death of her mother while trying to escape the violence and scarcity gripping Venezuela — an anarchy the book presents in shocking detail.
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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'Burn It Down' diagnoses, analyzes the state of American women's anger

'Burn It Down' diagnoses, analyzes the state of American women's anger

The anthology demonstrates that American women are just now at the starting line of exploring and understanding their anger; it's more about how they live with anger than about what makes them angry.
by Katharine Coldiron

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Gene Weingarten mines magic from 'One Day'

Gene Weingarten mines magic from 'One Day'

The humorist asked three strangers to pick a random day, month and year out of a hat — December 28, 1986, as it turned out. And then he set out to document every single thing he could for that day.
by Scott Simon

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Your perfect Halloween read

Prepare yourself, Halloween readers: Bookseller Aaron Cance has the ideal unnerving novel for you.
by Tracy Mumford

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End-to-beginning telling of inventor's story in 'Edison' makes for a circular read

End-to-beginning telling of inventor's story in 'Edison' makes for a circular read

Throughout his career, Edmund Morris repeatedly showed boredom, even disdain, for the traditional biography. In turn, he sometimes injected his books with an artistic flair that got in the way.
by Scott Detrow

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In 'Janis,' Joplin show to be a tangle of talents, contradictions and mythology

In 'Janis,' Joplin show to be a tangle of talents, contradictions and mythology

Holly George-Warren's research, eye for detail, illuminating contextualization and clear delivery make for a far more rounded and convincing image of the musician's precocity than seen previously.
by Jason Heller

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