Will we see you this fall?
 
The Thread
 
The Thread's Must Read
FeatherThief
"Sheets" by Brenna Thummler 

Did you ever rock the world's laziest Halloween costume: the sheet? Cut out two eyeholes and voila, you're a ghost?

"Sheets" takes place in a world where there is a real ghost under that floating bedspread. This charming coming-of-age graphic novel follows 13-year-old Marjorie, who is single-handedly keeping her family's struggling laundromat alive. Her mother has died, and her father is stumbling through life in a grief-stricken daze, while a conniving businessman has his sights set on the land beneath the family business.

A train ride away from all that is the great beyond — where ghosts meet regularly in a support group to discuss their own deaths. There, Wendell isn't ready to admit what's happened to him.

When Wendell makes a break back for the world of the living, he stumbles right into the laundromat and sets off a chaotic string of events that could upend everything Marjorie's trying to hold together.

This story won't take more than an afternoon to devour, and it's a favorite of Lemony Snicket, Brian Selznick and more.

-Tracy Mumford

Sponsor

Sponsor
 
This Week on The Thread
Constantinople; Michelangelo; Elephants
"Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants" by Mathias Enard
Buy this book

Bookseller Matt Keliher recommends a short summer read by one of France's greatest living writers.

More
Talking Volumes 2019 season guide

MPR and the Star Tribune are proud to announce the 20th season of Talking Volumes. This season will feature interviews with Alice Hoffman, Saeed Jones, Tim O’Brien, Karen Armstrong, Lindy West and Tracy K. Smith.

More
These cli-fi classics are cautionary tales for today

As heat waves roll across Europe and storms pummel the American South, literature is responding. But climate fiction — or cli-fi — is nothing new, and we've got a roundup of some classics.


More
Spirited 'Family of Origin' defends the maligned millennial
"Family of Origin" a novel by CJ Hauser
Buy this book

CJ Hauser's new novel centers on two estranged siblings trying to unravel their late father's work with a group of fringe biologists who believe evolution is running backward, away from millennials.

More
'At Dusk' exposes South Korea through a variety of lenses
"At Dusk" by Hwang Sok-yong 
Buy this book

Hwang Sok-yong's novel is a perfect slice of Koreana; a touching, somewhat depressive narrative full of nostalgia exposing the underbelly of a nation via the people inhabiting society's bottom rung.

More
In 'My Ideal Boyfriend Is a Croissant,' the heroine is no flake
"My Ideal Boyfriend Is a Croissant" by Laura Dockrill 
Buy this book

Laura Dockrill's young adult novel stars a refreshingly direct, unapologetic — and occasionally crass — plus-sized girl who uses her doctor-imposed food diary to record her life and feelings.

More
In 'Beijing Payback,' the immigrant experience, but make it a crime thriller
"Beijing Payback" by Daniel Nieh 
Buy this book

Daniel Nieh used to be a model and a translator. He says both of those professions went into his debut novel, a page-turner about a college basketball player unraveling his father's murder.

More
'Becoming Superman' chronicles the life and career of J. Michael Straczynski
"Becoming Superman: My Journey From Poverty to Hollywood" by J. Michael Straczynski
Buy this book

While the prolific Hollywood writer's career is well-documented, his personal history has been a mystery. His memoir is painful and inspiring, infuriating and full of hope, humorous and depressing.

More
‘Under Purple Skies’ highlights great breadth of Minnesota writing
"Under Purple Skies: The Minneapolis Anthology" by Frank Bures
Buy this book

A new collection of poems and stories features work created in — and about — Minneapolis.


More
'Lager Queen' author was tired of caricatures of Midwestern women
"The Lager Queen of Minnesota" a novel by J. Ryan Stradal
Buy this book

J. Ryan Stradal wasn't seeing the strong, Midwestern women who raised him reflected well in contemporary fiction. So he decided to write those characters himself in “The Lager Queen of Minnesota.”

More
From insomnia to sexsomnia, unlocking the 'secret world' of sleep
"The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience, and the Secret World of Sleep" by Guy Leschziner
Buy this book

Neurologist Guy Leschziner, author of "The Nocturnal Brain," says the brain can be in different sleep stages at once — which explains why people sometimes walk, eat and even have sex when sleeping.

More

Preference CenterUnsubscribe

This email was sent by: Minnesota Public Radio
480 Cedar Street Saint Paul, MN, 55101