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.

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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.

The gut's curious history
Historian Elsa Richardson’s new book, “Rumbles,” takes us on a fascinating tour of the gut’s medical and cultural past.
Richard Flanagan’s exploration of history, family and human interconnection in ‘Question 7’
Australian author Richard Flanagan recently became the first writer to win both the Booker Prize and the Baillie Gifford Prize for Best Book of Nonfiction. The latter prize was for his memoir “Question 7.” In it he examines his own life through a series of interconnections stretching across history and spanning the globe.
New book tells how the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe defended its reservation and sovereignty
“They Would Not Be Moved: The Enduring Struggle of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to Keep their Reservation” by historian and anthropologist Bruce White was published earlier this year by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. The book details the nearly 200-year fight by the tribal nation to maintain their land.
Minnesota-born comedian shares 'Tiny Pep Talks' for everyday struggles
Paula Skaggs’ new book, “Tiny Pep Talks,” co-written with Josh Linden, aims to gas us up for all the low-stakes situations in life where we might need a boost.
‘Meant to be’: Four years later, Black Garnet Books owner is selling, to a friend 
Dionne Sims opened Black Garnet Books with a vision, to serve Minnesota in a time of healing. As she moves on, Terresa Moses is taking over as the new owner of the Black-owned bookstore.
Dr. Marty Makary on medicine's blind spots
Dr. Marty Makary says data misinterpretation and conventional thinking is not serving us well — and he wants to change that. His new book, “Blind Spots,” details when medicine got it wrong and then resisted making it right.