Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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. 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.

Sixty years on, an NBA story teaches about racial injustice

Sixty years on, an NBA story teaches about racial injustice

The Minneapolis Laker’s Elgin Baylor’s high-flying style of basketball energized the early NBA, but it was his appearance courtside in a suit that changed the league. Now that story is being told in a children’s book.
by Myah Christenson

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
'The Voice Of Sheila Chandra' echoes through time and space

'The Voice Of Sheila Chandra' echoes through time and space

Kazim Ali's new poetry collection was inspired by the story of Sheila Chandra, a well-known singer rendered voiceless by an incurable neurological condition.
by Jeevika Verma

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
'The Once And Future Witches' will have you spellbound

'The Once And Future Witches' will have you spellbound

Alix Harrow's new book is set in an alternate 19th-century America where the suffragette movement exists alongside a quest to restore magic and end the banishment of witches and witchcraft.
by Jessica P. Wick

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
'Piranesi,' a perfect fall read leading up to Halloween

'Piranesi,' a perfect fall read leading up to Halloween

Chloe Deblois of Sherman’s Maine Coast Book Shop in Damariscotta, Maine, recommended the novel “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke, the bestselling author of “Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.”
by Emily Bright

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Talking Volumes: A conversation with Helen Macdonald

Talking Volumes: A conversation with Helen Macdonald

Kerri Miller hosts a conversation with bestselling author Helen Macdonald about her new book “Vesper Flights.”
by Kerri Miller

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Novel by Yaa Gyasi explores addiction, immigration and family ties

Novel by Yaa Gyasi explores addiction, immigration and family ties

Kerri Miller talked with writer Yaa Gyasi about growing up in Alabama, sibling relationships and her new book “Transcendent Kingdom.”
by Kerri Miller

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Underestimating these 'Maids' is a fatal mistake

Underestimating these 'Maids' is a fatal mistake

Katie Skelly's uncanny new graphic novel retells the real-life story of sisters Christine and Léa Papin, who were working as maids when they brutally murdered their employers.
by Etelka Lehoczky

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
'This is an opportunity': Fareed Zakaria on 'Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World'

'This is an opportunity': Fareed Zakaria on 'Lessons For A Post-Pandemic World'

The CNN host and author says COVID-19 has widened the inequality gap. "The most important piece of what the federal government can do is to stabilize these people's lives with direct aid," he says.
by Dave Davies

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!