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. 

In 'The Pictures,' the story slips out of focus
With "The Pictures," British author Guy Bolton kicks off a mystery series set in classic-era Hollywood. He's clearly done his research on 1930s America, but sometimes all that detail obscures the story.
St. Paul poet Danez Smith shines in the national spotlight
Danez Smith's latest collection, "Don't Call Us Dead," just landed on the longlist for the National Book Award. The collection explores what it's like to be young, black and gay in America.
Author Attica Locke: In America, we walk 'side by side' with our past
Attica Locke's novel 'Bluebird, Bluebird' is set in Texas where her family roots stretch back to slavery. The family didn't go north during the Great Migration, she explains: 'We said: No, Texas is ours, too.'