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. 

'Sex, Lies and Stardom': Exploitation in Howard Hughes' Hollywood
Karina Longworth's new book, 'Seduction,' tells the story of 10 women who had sexual relationships with Hughes. 'These things have always happened and they were never talked about publicly,' she says.
A history of Minnesota's homegrown department stores
In her new book, "Thank You For Shopping,: Kristal Leebrick explores the golden era of Minnesota's department stores and the retail titans who helped shape some of the state's biggest cultural institutions.
Nunez and Acevedo won for fiction and young people's literature, respectively. The prestigious literary prize also honored Jeffrey C. Stewart, Justin Phillip Reed, Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani.