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. 

'The Compatriots' suggests the days of domestic-only politics are behind us
Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, revered experts on the Russian secret service, give the book a credibility most others on Russian clandestine operations lack — and they also change the optics.
Ronan Farrow: 'Catch And Kill' tactics protected both Weinstein and Trump
He was followed and his house bugged as he reported on allegations against Harvey Weinstein. Farrow says it's part of a pattern in which powerful entities go to extremes to quash unfavorable stories.
Elton John on music, addiction and family: 'I'm proud of who I am now'
The artist says his father's early misgivings about his chosen career became a source of motivation: "He gave me the determination to make something of myself." John's new memoir is called Me.
Sigrid Nunez and Victoria Johnson at Concordia College in Moorhead for National Book Awards event
National Book Award finalist Victoria Johnson and National Book Award winner Sigrid Nunez speak at the 14th annual National Book Awards event at Concordia College in Moorhead.
Bookseller Adah Fitzgeral recommends a novel that’s about “finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.” It revolves around a small town near the coast in North Carolina, and a woman who lives life very much her own way.