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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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. 

How to become a 'superforecaster'
Bookseller Jonah Zimiles recommends a business-minded book that can teach readers to be better at predicting the future.
Legendary editor Judith Jones dies at 93
Judith Jones was behind such seminal works as the English-language 'The Diary of Anne Frank' and 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking.' Jones died Wednesday from Alzheimer's complications, according to family.
Trying to understand 'What Made Maddy Run'
Journalist Kate Fagan's new book digs into the life of a young woman whose suicide shocked the University of Pennsylvania, where she ran track. Madison Holleran's life seemed perfect, until it wasn't.
James Comey has a book deal
The first book by former FBI director James Comey's is expected next spring, and is will include "yet-unheard anecdotes from his long and distinguished career," according to publisher Flatiron Books.
Sen. Jeff Flake: 'As conservatives, our first obligation is to be honest'
A new book by the Republican from Arizona details where he thinks the GOP has gone wrong. Flake wrote the book in secret because he didn't want his advisers to try to talk him out of it.
Corporate bungling and political scandal abound in Jesse Eisinger's new book
Why don't crooked corporate CEO's go to jail anymore? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jesse Eisinger uncovers culture of cowardice, incompetence, and corruption in both government and finance.