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. 

James McBride's 'Five-Carat Soul' is a gem
The National Book Award-winning writer's debut story collection includes stories both straightforward and surreal. NPR's critic calls it 'brash, daring and defiantly original.'
Thread Book Hour: Sherman Alexie on the aftermath of the 'Native American Apocalypse'
MPR's Kerri Miller interviews author Sherman Alexie as part of the "Talking Volumes" series at the Fitzgerald Theater. He's written a memoir about his mother, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me."
In a future ruled by Big Pharma, a robot tentatively explores freedom -- and sex: 'Autonomous'
Annalee Newitz's tale of a pharmaceutical pirate and the dangerous agents hunting her is built on tender, intimate characterizations that probe notions of selfhood, gender and ownership.
Silicon Valley's Ellen Pao tackles sex discrimination, workplace diversity in memoir
The tech investor dives into the lawsuit that thrust her into the national spotlight and the workplace conditions that prompted it. She says firms are largely applying "tepid diversity solutions."
'School For Good And Evil' is a kids' fantasy series for the fake news era
"Good and evil -- they mix in the world," says author Soman Chainani. "Both sides claim to be good, both sides claim to be telling the truth." His latest in the series is called 'Quests for Glory'.