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.

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.

March 6, 2018 12:00 AM

Stirring, engrossing 'Woman's Hour' recounts the battle for suffrage

Elaine Weiss's new book reminds us how close of a call women's suffrage was. It all rode on one yes vote in the Tennessee legislature, cast by a man who changed his mind after pressure from his mother.

by Jean Zimmerman

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 5, 2018 4:54 PM

'It just felt very wrong:' Sherman Alexie's accusers go on the record

Author Sherman Alexie issued a statement in his own defense last week after allegations of sexual harassment began to circulate online. Now, several of the women accusing him are speaking to NPR.

by Lynn Neary

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 5, 2018 7:41 AM

Andrew Lloyd Webber's genius is 'Unmasked' in new memoir

The famed composer of "Evita," "Cats," "The Phantom of the Opera" and many more tells his story in a new memoir.

by Renee Montagne and Ned Wharton

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 4, 2018 10:32 AM

A sister shares 'Horrible and Wonderful' memories of her brother's life and death

Comedy writer and TV producer Harris Wittels died of an overdose in 2015; a new book by his sister Stephanie Wittels Wachs came from her desperate need to talk to him, even yell at him after he died.

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 4, 2018 12:00 AM

Chinese classic 'Condor Heroes' takes wing in English

Jin Yong's wildly popular historical series "Legends of the Condor Heroes" has been adapted many times for Chinese TV, movies and comics, and now the first volume has been translated into English.

by Alan Yu

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 3, 2018 4:00 AM

'Based on a True Story': A creepy, twisty page-turner

Bookseller Morgan Miller recommends a novel built around a writer who finds sudden success, and a new acquaintance: "It's both very literary, and also just a really good, creepy, twisty thriller."

by Tracy Mumford

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 3, 2018 12:00 AM

Deep, compassionate 'Tess of the Road' contains a whole world

Rachel Hartman follows up "Seraphina" and "Shadow Scale" with the story of Tess, a rebellious young woman who runs away to escape being sent to a nunnery, and finds pain and growth along her road.

by Amal El-Mohtar

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 2, 2018 12:59 PM

Your guide to past, present and future books-to-film adaptations

"A Wrinkle in Time" hits theaters this month. It's one of several books being turned into a movie this year. Three film and literature junkies talk about what it takes to make a good book-to-film adaptation.

by Kerri Miller and Elizabeth Shockman

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 1, 2018 3:03 PM

Dolly Parton gives the gift of literacy: A library of 100 million books

In 1995, the entertainer and philanthropist started the Imagination Library, inspired by her father, who couldn't read and write. Now, it mails free books to more than a million kids each month.

by Maureen Pao

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!

March 1, 2018 8:43 AM

More than just nostalgia, 'Time Pieces' is a multilayered memoir of Dublin

Irish writer John Banville's new book is a shimmering, frequently elusive book about a city, but also an inquiry into memory, shifting attention, and above all time as it passes and becomes the past.

by Heller McAlpin

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!