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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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.

February 16, 2021 2:47 PM

David Pogue on ‘How to Prepare for Climate Change’

Record heat and warming oceans mean life on planet Earth is changing. Science and technology writer David Pogue outlined the scale of those changes and offers advice for how humans can adjust.

by Kerri Miller and Marcheta Fornoff

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February 16, 2021 12:45 PM

To understand police reform, law professor volunteered to join the force

For four years, Rosa Brooks carried a badge and a gun and worked a minimum of 24 hours a month for the D.C. police — all on a voluntary basis. She writes about her experiences in “Tangled Up in Blue.”

by Terry Gross

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February 14, 2021 7:01 AM

A boy named 'Milo' reminds us to choose imagination over impressions

Milo and his big sister take a long subway ride to visit their mother, who is incarcerated, in the latest collaboration from award-winning picture book duo Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson.

by Samantha Balaban

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February 12, 2021 8:00 AM

Talking Volumes: Talking Race 2021 season guide

Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune are proud to announce a special Talking Volumes series of virtual events centered around the topic of race in America. Join MPR News journalists Kerri Miller and Brandt Williams as they host engaging conversations with authors throughout the month of March.

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February 11, 2021 6:00 AM

Let this 'Wild Rain' sweep you away

The latest from Beverly Jenkins revisits an old favorite spot — the town of Paradise, Wy., where Spring Rain Lee (sister of previous hero Colton Lee) meets a man who may upend her independent life.

by Denny S. Bryce

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February 11, 2021 2:48 AM

'Gay Bar' tracks the wave of a whole culture — and one life

Author Jeremy Atherton Lin writes of the history of gay bars, as their existence is threatened by the popularity of dating apps and rising property costs, and reflects on their presence in his life.

by Michael Schaub

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February 9, 2021 9:32 AM

'Between Two Kingdoms' tells a story of survival — and of a journey to learn to live

A new book by Suleika Jaouad, author of the column "Life, Interrupted," encompasses a less familiar tale of what it's like to survive cancer and have to figure out how to live again in its aftermath.

by Heller McAlpin

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February 9, 2021 5:00 AM

Duo retraces a classic canoe trip and makes it their own

A new book “Hudson Bay Bound” by Natalie Warren tells the tale of a canoe trip she took with her best friend from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in Canada.

by Euan Kerr

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February 8, 2021 12:35 PM

'We Run The Tides' pulls you into the rough seas of female adolescence

Vendela Vida's novel centers on four 13-year-old girls who are perched on the edge of adulthood — and the recognition that some things they do or say now will change who they become as adults.

by Maureen Corrigan

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February 8, 2021 9:34 AM

'Under A White Sky' examines what it might take for humans to continue to exist

Elizabeth Kolbert makes clear how far we already are from a world of undisturbed, balanced nature — and how far we must go to find a new balance for the planet's future, one that still includes us.

by Adam Frank

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