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. 

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."
Novel kindles questions about family, values
In "Little Fires Everywhere," Celeste Ng pits ideals against the realities of "messy human existence."
'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'.
Move over millennials, here comes 'iGen' ... or maybe not
A new book worries that growing up with smartphones and the Internet has been harmful to a generation of kids. Critic Annalisa Quinn says intergenerational carping is a long, and unhelpful tradition.
How to make every grade more like kindergarten
In his new book, MIT professor Mitchel Resnick lays out a vision for encouraging creative thinking, based on his research into what he calls Lifelong Kindergarten.
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.
Thread Book Hour: Conversations with Claire Messud and Nicole Krauss
MPR News host Kerri Miller interviews novelists Claire Messud and Nicole Krauss about two of the most highly acclaimed books of 2017, "The Burning Girl" and "Forest Dark."
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.