Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now

The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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. Sam Stroozas rounds up local events and Minnesota book news you may have missed.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where host Emily Bright 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 and produced by Kelly Gordon every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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.

Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale' is compelling -- and chilling

Hulu's 'The Handmaid's Tale' is compelling -- and chilling

The adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian 1985 novel is a horror show revealed in slow motion -- and the true horror of its brutal, patriarchal future theocracy is how possible it seems today.
by Eric Deggans

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Gripping comics memoir 'Hostage' puts you in the room where nothing happens

Gripping comics memoir 'Hostage' puts you in the room where nothing happens

Cartoonist Guy Delisle departs from the first-person travelogue format which has won him acclaim to chronicle the true story of a man kidnapped and detained for months in the Caucasus region in 1997.
by Glen Weldon

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Bookstore on wheels turns heads in Baghdad

Bookstore on wheels turns heads in Baghdad

A 25-year-old resident of Baghdad has opened a mobile bookstore to share his passion for reading and revive a love for books in Iraq.
by Associated Press

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
'Anything is Possible' is unafraid to be gentle

'Anything is Possible' is unafraid to be gentle

Elizabeth Strout's new novel-in-stories is a welcome salve for troubled times. A companion volume to last year's 'My Name is Lucy Barton,' 'Anything is Possible' looks at the people Lucy grew up with.
by Heller McAlpin

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Thread Book Hour: David Grann on 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

Thread Book Hour: David Grann on 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

In "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI," David Grann tells a gripping tale of greed, prejudice, and callousness.
by MPR News Staff

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Dark lives of 'The Radium Girls' left a bright legacy for science

Dark lives of 'The Radium Girls' left a bright legacy for science

Kate Moore's new book digs into the short, painful lives of the Radium Girls, who worked painting luminous dials on watches and clocks -- and were poisoned by the glowing radium paint they used.
by Mary Louise Kelly

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
'If you ever want to understand the immigrant experience,' read this book

'If you ever want to understand the immigrant experience,' read this book

Angela Maria Spring picked up Daisy Hernandez's memoir thinking she would just read the first few chapters. By the time she finished, she was crying on the phone to her mother.
by Tracy Mumford

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
Poetry Friday: All in the details

Poetry Friday: All in the details

To celebrate National Poetry Month, we are showcasing weekly poems from Graywolf Press, Milkweed Editions and Coffee House Press.
by Tracy Mumford

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!
'Tender' stories are a feast of ideas

'Tender' stories are a feast of ideas

Sofia Samatar is the creator of an award-winning fantasy world; she sticks closer to earth in her powerful first story collection, but it's not always the earth we might recognize.
by Jason Heller

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

Show me!