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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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. 

Jeeves and Wooster, but make it a modern spy novel
Ben Shott has taken the iconic P.G. Wodehouse comic characters (with the blessing of the Wodehouse estate) and twisted 'five degrees to starboard' in his new novel 'Jeeves and the King of Clubs.'
Twin Cities teen author aims to help children connect with dementia
Because of the stigma around the disease, Edie Weinstein said many young people may not feel comfortable around people with dementia. But she hopes her book will help bring about greater understanding for those with dementia.
'Come with Me' lays bare the risks and regrets of our online lives
Helen Schulman splices together an old-school family drama with high-tech fantasy in her new novel, a rich, closely observed story about regrets and risk-taking in the Internet age.
Life after sudden death in 'Widower's Notebook'
When Jonathan Santlofer's wife died five years ago, he was thrown into a 'fugue state' of grief. Sketching her portrait from old photographs has helped him stay close to her.
'Evening in Paradise' remembers those who might otherwise be forgotten
This second posthumous anthology of stories by Lucia Berlin is full of deeply felt stories about lives on the fringe, alternately comic and tragic, bound together by Berlin's love for her characters.
Kate DiCamillo, chronicler of the hard truths of youth
She's hugely popular and comes across as something of a smart aleck, but the children's author says she retains the timidity of her youth. She says that helps her connect to her young readers.