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. 

With book, Ivanka Trump must walk complicated ethical line
While Trump has opted to donate proceeds to charity and avoid a publicity tour, the book has generated a rash of media coverage -- and some fresh questions about whether she could profit from her rising profile,
'I belonged nowhere': A story of displacement, from a novelist who knows
'Salt Houses' traces several generations of a displaced Palestinian family. Author Hala Alyan says she experienced firsthand the 'intergenerational trauma that went along with losing a homeland.'
Neil Gaiman's 'American Gods' comes to TV
In the new Starz adaptation of Neil Gaiman's beloved fantasy novel, gods from all over the world are drawn to America when their worshippers arrive here -- whether as immigrants, explorers, or slaves.