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.

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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. 

From Freddie Gray to George Floyd: Wes Moore says it's time to 'change the systems'
In Five Days, Moore chronicles the uprising that occurred in Baltimore following Gray's death. "We're basically reliving history right now," he says of Floyd's death at the hands of police.
This bedtime book helps kids find their place in the 'universe'
Before he became an astrophysicist, Ray Jayawardhana was just a kid, looking up at the night sky with his father. "I remember being awed," he says. He's written a book called “Child of the Universe.”
In 'Humankind,' Rutger Bregman aims to convince that most people are good
The historian and author of “Utopia for Realists” says that research shows that "especially in times of crisis, we show our best selves. And we get this explosion of altruism and cooperation."
'Hollywood Park' compassionately depicts the suffering and struggles of addiction
Musician Mikel Jollett writes of his young years spent in the Synanon cult and how music helped him overcome these dark days, but misses a chance to discuss music as art and the ideas guiding him now.