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.

Lonely people find connection in ‘The Satisfaction Café’
Kathy Wang’s new novel, “The Satisfaction Café,” offers a quirky, thoughtful and unexpected antidote to loneliness: mannered, purposeful conversation.
As some governments pull away from climate issues, others are working on solutions
MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talked with author Alan Weisman about the innovative ways people across the globe are creating practical solutions to combat climate change.
There’s magic at work in this new batch of books
We don’t just mean literary sorcery by which words summon worlds for readers, but also literal, honest-to-goodness magic: angels, conjurers, otherworldly attractions and dances of mysterious power.
Out to Lunch: The Kris Lindahl beyond the billboards
In his new memoir, “Arms Out,” real estate CEO Kris Lindahl shares about growing up in poverty and not always stable housing, his father’s struggles with addiction, and navigating high school after his father was murdered.   
Here are the 13 books that made the Booker Prize longlist
The prize is one of the most prestigious awards in literature. This year’s crop of nominees includes two debut novelists going up against a previous Booker Prize winner.
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Bat Kid’ by Inoue Kazuo
PJ Moon of The Raven Bookstore in Lawrence, Kan., recommends “Bat Kid” by Inoue Kazuo.
New England noir chills and thrills in 'The House on Buzzards Bay'
Dwyer Murphy’s new novel, “The House on Buzzards Bay,” is New England noir at its finest. College friends reunite at a beach house one member inherited — but everyone and everything is out of sorts, and when a group member disappears and a mysterious stranger arrives, long-simmering tensions are revealed.