The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Sam Stroozas rounds up local events and Minnesota book news you may have missed.

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.

Elizabeth Warren stitches the stories she says 'help us learn to persist'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she isn't looking to be president. She's looking for change, she tells NPR, which happens when we talk about our stories — from sexual harassment to child care troubles.
Sharon Stone on new memoir 'The Beauty of Living Twice'
Sharon Stone is a survivor — of a stroke, and some of the worst Hollywood has to offer. She writes about her life in a funny, tender, sometimes shocking new memoir called “The Beauty of Living Twice.”
Former 'Pregnant Girl' builds support to help other teen moms
Nicole Lynn Lewis felt overwhelmed and isolated as a young single mom in college. Now she runs a nonprofit designed to help teen parents get the financial and emotional support they need to thrive.
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.