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. 

'Group' destigmatizes and demystifies group therapy, without lessons
In her memoir, Christie Tate sets a positive example in the telling of how group therapy saved her — and in the care she takes to never present herself as an expert.
In 'The Upswing,' history holds the keys to moving away from today's tumultuous age
“Bowling Alone” author Robert Putnam joins with Shaylyn Romney Garrett to form the thesis that America's Gilded Age shows remarkable similarity to today — with a societal focus on "I" rather than "we."
Ina Garten: 'All my books really are about comfort food'
Sometimes you want a really good salad, Garten says. But now is not that time. Her new book, “Modern Comfort Food,” is packed full of recipes for beef stew, chocolate chip cookies and Boston cream pie.
Inks and colors rescue 'Blue In Green' from plodding plotting
Writer Ram V takes on a classic music-biz myth in his new graphic novel: The devilish crossroads deal. But it's illustrator Anand RK's loose, jazzy, clever art that really makes this book sing.
Ask a bookseller, Halloween edition: An apocalyptic read keeps you asking 'what else could happen?'
This Halloween, Gretchen West of Valley Bookseller in Stillwater, Minn., recommends the novel “Leave the World Behind” by Rumaan Alam, which came out earlier this month. 
Talking Volumes: A conversation with Isabel Wilkerson
Kerri Miller hosts a conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson about her new book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”
Former DHS official says he wrote 'Anonymous' Trump critique
 A former Trump administration official who penned a scathing anti-Trump op-ed and book under the pen name “Anonymous” revealed himself Wednesday as a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security.
Echoes of today's unrest run through 'The Cold Millions'
Jess Walter's new novel an adventure tale based on actual events in the early days of the last century's labor movement — which was much wilder and bloodier than most people remember.
Biography traces political mistakes and personal scars that shaped Joe Biden
The New Yorker's Evan Osnos writes about the candidate's enduring quest to become president. He says Joe Biden has a different mindset today than he once had: "He's a man who is at peace."