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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 an annual event series featuring notable authors in conversation about their new books. Presented by MPR News and The Minnesota Star Tribune. 

Tickets are now available for our 26th season. Join award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller (and special guest host Catharine Richart) as they talk with authors including Stacey Abrams, Patricia Lockwood, Misty Copeland, John Grisham, and Kate Baer. 

The shadow fighters of the Civil War

The shadow fighters of the Civil War

Historian Patrick O’Donnell spotted an intriguing roadside marker and then spent six years researching a part of the Civil War long forgotten. His 2024 book, “The Unvanquished,” tells the story of shape-shifting spies, fearless guerilla fighters and military leaders straight out of a movie.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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Here are the nonfiction books NPR staffers have loved so far this year

Here are the nonfiction books NPR staffers have loved so far this year

A deep dive on gossip. Revolutionary history. A meditation on muscle. A closer look at the color blue. And memoirs galore. There’s something for everyone on this nonfiction summer reading list.
by Meghan Collins Sullivan and Beth Novey

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In new memoir, Minnesota journalist details how epilepsy changed her life

In new memoir, Minnesota journalist details how epilepsy changed her life

In her new memoir "Running Uphill: Confronting a Life with Epilepsy," author Stacia Kalinoski hopes to inspire others living with epilepsy or any health condition.
by Nina Moini and Alanna Elder

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'Behind the Red Velvet Curtain'

'Behind the Red Velvet Curtain'

Joy Womack is one of the few American ballet dancers to train and perform at Russia’s storied Bolshoi Academy. Her new memoir, as told to MPR News’ Elizabeth Shockman, is an intimate look at what it takes to become one of the best ballerinas in the world.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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From Eiffel Tower to bistro chairs: Paris expos take center stage in new release by Minnesota author

From Eiffel Tower to bistro chairs: Paris expos take center stage in new release by Minnesota author

After losing Minneapolis bid for Expo 2027, Charles Pappas took a dispirited walk in Paris that led him to realize how deeply the city’s iconic identity was shaped by its World Expos — an epiphany that inspired his new book, “Nobody Sits Like the French,” a historical exploration of Paris through its expos from 1855 to 1937.
by Alex V. Cipolle

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