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. 

Harry Potter and the burgled prequel: Rare, handwritten copy stolen in U.K.
The 800-word prequel, which was scrawled on a postcard by J.K. Rowling herself, went missing from a property after a burglary in mid-April. Now, Rowling and the police are calling on fans to help.
DNR mulls fate of celebrated author's Minnesota prairie home
Novelist Frederick Manfred found inspiration in the landscape around the home he built within southwestern Minnesota's Blue Mounds State Park. But the house, now the park's visitor center, is crumbling and may face demolition.
In 'Music of the Ghosts,' a Khmer Rouge survivor faces 'the reality of Cambodia'
Novelist Vaddey Ratner, herself a Khmer Rouge survivor, tells the story of a Cambodian-American woman looking for answers about her father's disappearance under the regime.