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.

September 13, 2017 10:14 AM

Man Booker Prize shortlist announced

The 2017 nominees for the U.K.'s top literary prize include a hefty dose of marquee authors, such as Paul Auster. But the list also features a pair of debuts, from Minnesota native Emily Fridlund and from Fiona Mozley.

by Colin Dwyer

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!

September 12, 2017 1:48 PM

Reporter Katy Tur shares her 'Front-Row' view of the Trump campaign

Tur was at a rally in South Carolina when Trump called her name and pointed at her from the podium. Then, she says, "The entire place turns and they roar as one ... like a giant, unchained animal."

by Terry Gross

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!

September 12, 2017 12:09 PM

In 'Damascus,' a chilling mystery with a personal connection

Deborah Campbell's 'A Disappearance in Damascus' is both a taut detective story and an intimate account of friendship during war -- and that's before our reviewer discovered her own part in the story.

by Deborah Amos

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!

September 12, 2017 6:45 AM

Hillary Clinton is 'done,' but not going away

In interviews with NPR, Clinton discusses her life since the election she didn't expect to lose, why she lost, and offers scathing criticism of President Trump.

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!

September 11, 2017 10:20 AM

'Big Chicken': The medical mystery that traced back to slaughterhouse workers

by Maryn McKenna

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!

September 11, 2017 7:05 AM

At St. Cloud State University, Harry Potter and the philosopher's class

St. Cloud State University professor Carolyn Hartz is applying Aristotle's work on friendship to character relationships in J.K. Rowling's books about the boy wizard. The class discusses ethics, logic, love, the human soul and nature while examining the stories.

by The Associated Press

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!

September 9, 2017 12:00 AM

A mother and daughter upset suburban status quo in 'Little Fires Everywhere'

Novelist Celeste Ng knows Shaker Heights, Ohio well. Writing about your own hometown is "like writing about a relative," she says. "You love them dearly, and yet you also know all of their quirks."

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!

September 8, 2017 8:01 AM

How 'American Assassin' took a long, twisting path to film

A movie featuring the indomitable fictional terrorism fighter Mitch Rapp is about to hit movie screens nationwide -- four years after his creator, author Vince Flynn, died from prostate cancer.

by Jeff Baenen, Associated Press

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!

September 8, 2017 7:50 AM

'Young people who do extraordinary things' are the norm in Marie Lu's YA world

The bestselling young adult author specializes in dystopian fiction. Her latest, 'Warcross,' is set in the not-too-distant future, and draws on Lu's time working in the video game industry.

by Mandalit del Barco

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!

September 7, 2017 4:00 AM

'Falling and Flying' makes for a hypnotic read

Ben Loory's new story collection is dreamlike in the best way: both cheerfully surreal and cosmically unsettling, full of lovelorn cephalopods, discontented sloths and the occasional darker touch.

by Michael Schaub

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!