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. 

'Lithium' is a homage to a drug — and to the renegade side of science
By celebrating those who applied the substance as a drug, Walter A. Brown aims to raise awareness — and to demolish what remains of the myth that scientific progress is driven by rigorous dispassion.
In 'An American Sunrise,' Joy Harjo speaks with a timeless compassion
The poet laureate's collection tells a tale of a fierce and ongoing fight for sovereignty, integrity, and basic humanity. It's a plea that Americans take responsibility for what's done in our names.
In 'The Mosquito,' Humans Face A Predator More Deadly Than The Rest
Timothy C. Winegard has written a well-researched work of narrative nonfiction that tells a history of the world through the role mosquitoes — and mosquito-borne illnesses — have played in it.
Quiet, surreal drama — and disappearing objects — in 'The Memory Police'
Yoko Ogawa's novel takes place on a small island were objects — flowers, photographs, boats — are disappearing, and the mysterious "memory police" work to make sure they're eternally forgotten.
Former Charlottesville mayor shares painful lessons from fight against hate
In 2017, Mike Signer faced a small-town leader's nightmare: a racist rally that spiraled out of control and ended in bloodshed. Two years later, Signer is on a mission of education — and atonement.