The Thread With Kerri Miller

Courtesy of publisher "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke to Brandy O'Briant from Page 1 Books in Evanston, Ill. Brandy O'Briant didn't choose to read this classic in college — she was assigned it. "I took a class called Absurdity in Literature," she said. "It wasn't a class I was comfortable taking, or wanted to take. I really cared much more about 19th century heroines, but this is something I was required to take." "We read a lot of interesting stuff. We read 'Gravity's Rainbow' and 'The Crying of Lot 49' and things that in hindsight I'm really glad I have read and experienced. But the one book that stuck with me, that I re-read regularly is 'The Master and Margarita.'" "The basic premise is that the devil shows up in [Stalinist-era] Moscow, and he's a very well-dressed, dapper gentleman, who comes with this really motley crew of characters," O'B

Today, he's the successful publisher of Forbes magazine. But Rich Karlgaard says it wasn't until his 30s and 40s that he found his stride. That's just one of the reasons he wrote the book "Late Bloomers." In it, he argues that we are "trapped by our cultural worship of the precociously talented and the youthfully ambitious," and he proves it with case studies of people who peaked later in life — and were happier and more successful for it. "Blooming has no deadline," he writes. "Our future is written in pencil, not carved in stone." He joined MPR News host Kerri Miller for a conversation about how most of us do better as we age. Guest: Rich Karlgaard, publisher of Forbes magazine and author of the new book "Late Bloomers" To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify

Courtesy of publisher 'Brown White Black' by Nishta J. Mehra Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we spoke to Allison Punch from Old Town Books in Alexandria, Va. When Nishta J. Mehra goes out with her family, people stare. That's just one of the realities she addresses in her essay collection, "Brown White Black: An American Family at the Intersection of Race, Gender, Sexuality, and Religion." Bookseller Allison Punch recommends the book and its "beautiful essays." "[Mehra] is an first-generation Indian-American woman who is married to a white woman, and they are raising a black, gender-nonconforming child," Punch said. The essays discuss "her family and her growing up in Memphis, and everything that comes with living with a family with such various identities and lived experiences. "It really resonated with me, because I am also in a queer, interracial relationship, and she talks so beautifully about b