The Thread® - Books and Literary 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.

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. 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. 

Anna Burns wins Man Booker prize for 'Milkman'
Burns' story set in Northern Ireland was awarded the 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, the book will be published in the U.S. this December by Graywolf Press.
'Hey, Kiddo' aims to help kids with addicted parents feel less alone
Jarrett J. Krosoczka was raised by his grandparents. The author and illustrator says he got a lot of practice telling stories as a kid, "making up excuses for where my biological parents were."
Getting 'The Band' together: Questions for Nicholas Eames
Author Nicholas Eames's series The Band is a joyous mashup of classic rock and fantasy tropes -- because if there were monsters, why wouldn't there be bands of celebrity mercenaries to slay them?
Phoebe Robinson: There's no excuse for the lack of diversity in comedy
"There are so many talented, amazing people and if you're not booking them, it's either out of laziness or the fact you really don't care," says the co-host of the 2 Dope Queens podcast.
'Washington Black' is a soaring tale of enslavement and escape
Esi Edugyan's new novel centers on a boy who escapes slavery via hot air balloon -- before crashing down to hard historical realities. Critic Maureen Corrigan calls Washington Black "a wonder."
'The Ravenmaster' is definitely (there) for the birds
Legend says that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, England will fall. Luckily, ravenmaster Chris Skaife is there to care for them, and he's got a new book about these extraordinary birds.
A book that proposes 'every living thing has two bodies'
"I just finished it the other night, and I have been thinking about it for three days," says bookseller Daley Farr.