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

A Minnesota-born ambassador and a long lost puppy
The Thread Must-Read this week features the true-life story of a faraway place, a Minnesota-born ambassador and a lost puppy.
Michael Lewis' 'The Premonition' is a sweeping indictment of the CDC
In a new book, author Michael Lewis writes about public health officers who tried to get others to look at the data on COVID-19 and act to make sure the virus didn't spread.
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Solutions and Other Problems’
This week, Ask a Bookseller called closer to home, with a recommendation from Charlie Aldrich of Buffalo Books & Coffee in Buffalo, Minn. He recommended “Solutions and Other Problems,” written and illustrated by Allie Brosh.
'Great Circle' takes flight across decades and continents
The daredevil aviator in Maggie Shipstead's new novel was inspired by Amelia Earhart. Shipstead says she wants to investigate the difference between death and a disappearance like Earhart's.
Murderbot meets Miss Marple in 'Fugitive Telemetry'
Martha Wells' new Murderbot novella is a classic locked-room mystery — only the locked room is a docked shuttle at a normally peaceful space station ill-equipped to deal with murder and mayhem.
The Five: Reflections on American history, race — and pop culture
MPR News director of programming Steph Curtis stopped by with a spring edition of “The Five,” where she recommends things to read, listen to and experience right now.
Survival is an invitation to push through hard times in 'White Magic'
Elissa Washuta's “White Magic” is full of magic — and pain — as it deals with trauma while exploring cultural inheritance and the way attacks on Native women never stopped.
How women can reclaim their power
In her new book, “Unbound,” former dominatrix Kasia Urbaniak teaches women how to step into their power.