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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.

This 'Evergreen' LA noir novel imagines the post-WWII reality of Japanese Americans

This 'Evergreen' LA noir novel imagines the post-WWII reality of Japanese Americans

In Naomi Hirahara's mystery novel, a Japanese American family interned during the war returns home to a changed city. They're still settling in when their daughter is caught up in a murder.
by John Powers

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James McBride's 'Heaven & Earth' is an all-American mix of prejudice and hope

James McBride's 'Heaven & Earth' is an all-American mix of prejudice and hope

Set in a neighborhood where Blacks and immigrant Jews have lived next to each other for decades, “The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” is one of the best novels critic Maureen Corrigan has read this year.
by Maureen Corrigan

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Ask a Bookseller: 'Horse'

Ask a Bookseller: 'Horse'

Alden Graves of Northshire Bookstore in Manchester Center, Vt., says he generally avoids books about animals, but he's glad he made an exception for Geraldine Brooks’ novel “Horse.”
by Emily Bright

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Christian Cooper on what it means to be a Black man in the natural world

Christian Cooper on what it means to be a Black man in the natural world

Christian Cooper was birdwatching in Central Park in 2020 when a white woman falsely accused him of threatening her. That incident went viral, pushed his work as a Black birder into the public eye, and led to his fantastic memoir, “Better Living Through Birding: Notes From A Black Man In The Natural World.”
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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A poet pieces together an uncertain past in 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'

A poet pieces together an uncertain past in 'Memoir of a Kidnapping'

When Shane McCrae was almost 4 years old, his maternal grandparents, who were white supremacists, took him from his father, who is Black. His new memoir is “Pulling the Chariot of the Sun.”
by Tonya Mosley

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Lake Superior's shipwrecked history on full display in 'Too Much Sea for their Decks'

Lake Superior's shipwrecked history on full display in 'Too Much Sea for their Decks'

While the Great Lakes have been vital to the American economy, they’ve also shown the ships — and the crews of people on them — harrowing, sometimes life-threatening storms.
by Cathy Wurzer and Ellen Finn

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