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.

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. 

A brilliant novel told through ten conversations
"I think it's so disarming because it's so simple, and yet I kept re-reading 'Outline.' I kept going back to it and being spellbound by how brilliant it is," said bookseller Richard DeWyngaert.
A dancer is unstrung by grief in 'Isadora'
The great American dancer Isadora Duncan led a tragic life. Her worst year -- just after the deaths of her first two children in an accident, forms the core of Amelia Gray's powerful new novel.
In 'Margot Sanchez,' a teen grows up and learns to love the Bronx
Instead of going to the beach with her prep school friends, Margot is stuck working at her father's supermarket in the Bronx. Lilliam Rivera says her YA novel was inspired by her own Bronx childhood.