The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where host Emily Bright 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 and produced by Kelly Gordon every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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.

Journalist Brian Goldstone talks about America's homeless problem in his new book
It used to be, if you had a job in America, you could usually afford to put a roof over your head. There’s no longer the case, says journalist Brian Goldstone in his sobering new book, “There is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America.”
Arthur Sze named 25th U.S. poet laureate
Sze is a poet with a lot of acclaim — he's won the National Book Award, was a Guggenheim fellow and was a finalist for the Pulitzer. He aims to promote interest in translated poetry in his new role.
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Little Shrew’ by Akiko Miyakoshi
Ashley Robin Franklin of First Light Books in Austin, Texas, recommends “Little Shrew” by Akiko Miyakoshi.
Talking Volumes: Stacey Abrams talks about democracy, the power of of reading and her new novel, 'Coded Justice'
Stacey Abrams launched the 2025 season of Talking Volumes this week, with a warm, funny and inspiring conversation about how to make sense of this disorienting world without losing your humanity or hope.
4 lives are upended by an impulsive kiss in the epic novel ‘Buckeye’
Patrick Ryan’s novel focuses on two married couples and stretches from pre-WWII to the close of the 20th century, capturing both the sweep of history and the mundane particularity of everyday life.
New books out today: A Dan Brown thriller, John Prine bio and World Wide Web memoir
New books this week include “Secret of Secrets” — the sixth installment of “The Da Vinci Code” saga, plus a tech memoir from Tim Berners-Lee and a career-spanning anthology from Terry McMillan.
Mike Osterholm reflects on lessons from the pandemic in 'The Big One'
Public health leaders, researchers, doctors and nurses saved a lot of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. But serious errors were also made. In his new book, University of Minnesota epidemiologist Mike Osterholm pulls no punches on why last time may just be a practice run for “The Big One.”
New books this week track John Williams’ life, future pandemics and NASA fiction
This week’s publishing highlights are a bumper crop of biography, science and fiction — including new reads the from authors of “The Sweetness of Water,” “The God of Small Things” and “Deadliest Enemy.”
A Nigerian group attempts a 431-hour reading marathon to set a Guinness World Record
In Lagos, Nigeria, three men and two women have been reading aloud for over 431 hours to set a Guinness World Record. They're part of a campaign to promote literacy in Africa’s most populous country.