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. 

Ask a Bookseller: 'Mercy Falls'
Jerry Lenaz of The Cloak and Dagger Mystery Bookshop in Princeton, New Jersey recommends Minnesota writer William Kent Krueger’s mystery novel "Mercy Falls."
Uncovering the mysteries of everyday design with the hosts of ‘99% Invisible’
The hosts of the much-loved podcast “99% Invisible” reveal the stories behind common urban objects in a new book and on-air with MPR News host Kerri Miller.
'Long Time Coming' explores birth, uninterrupted history of systemic racism in U.S.
Michael Eric Dyson's call to action is an invitation to reimagine law enforcement, education, workspaces and all other spaces in ways that eliminate racism, abuse, misogyny and xenophobia.
'Perestroika in Paris' is a cozy, fairy-tale trot through the city of lights
Fans of Jane Smiley's previous books will be pleased to see that talking horses make a return in her latest — plus a dog, a raven and a couple of ducks, all making lives for themselves in Paris.
3 steamy romance novels you can't miss
The pandemic might’ve stolen the “steamy” from your love life, but that’s what fiction is for! Here are three flirty fiction titles that may have been overlooked in this topsy-turvy year.
Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com pick 'pandemic' as their 2020 word of the year
On March 11, when the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, lookups for pandemic spiked hugely. On Merriam-Weber, searches were 115,806 percent higher than lookups experienced on the same date last year. On Dictionary.com, searches on the site for the word spiked more than 13,500 percent that day.
Misty Copeland celebrates ballet's beautiful friendships in 'Bunheads'
Copeland hopes her book will help young dancers feel comfortable in the studio and on the stage. She says illustrator Setor Fiadzigbey channeled "superhero energy" into dancers leaping off the page.
Finding a voice and coming to terms with a stutter in 'I Talk Like A River'
Jordan Scott is a poet, a master of words, and a stutterer. His new kids' book, gorgeously illustrated by Sydney Smith, chronicles his childhood journey towards coming to terms with his stutter.