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. 

'Called To Rise': Dallas police chief on overcoming racial division
Last year, Dallas Police Chief David Brown was the face of leadership after a gunman killed five police officers during a protest. He has since retired from the force and wrote a book about his life.
Polar photographer shares his view of a ferocious but fragile ecosystem
Paul Nicklen has spent decades documenting the Arctic and the Antarctic. "I want people to realize that ice is like the soil in the garden," he says. "Without ice the polar regions cannot exist."
Thread Book Hour: Eddie Glaude Jr. on what it means to be American
Part 2: Princeton professor Eddie Glaude Jr. explores that it means to be American, in conversation with MPR's Kerri Miller for the "Thread" book series. He's the author of "Democracy in Black."
Thread Book Hour: Eddie Glaude Jr. explores what it means to be American
Princeton professor Eddie Glaude Jr. explores that it means to be American, in conversation with MPR's Kerri Miller for the "Thread" book series. He's the author of "Democracy in Black."
This big book could carry you through the summer
English professor Samuel Andresen-Anderson hasn't seen his mother since he was a child. Then one day, he gets a call: She's been arrested in a political protest, and she needs a character witness.