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. 

'Drug Dealer, MD': Misunderstandings and good intentions fueled opioid epidemic
Psychiatrist Anna Lembke says the medical establishment and drugmakers began telling doctors in the 1980s that opioids were effective treatment for chronic pain. "That was patently false," she says.
Why sci-fi and fantasy matter
Sci-fi and fantasy stories "can short-circuit our assumptions about the world around us," says author Ann Leckie.
Ask a bookseller: Print in Portland, Maine
Josh Christie's recommendation of the moment is for "the first book that's a deep dive into the activists of the Black Lives Matter movement and the police on the other side of these conflicts."
The surprising science of how we make decisions
"The Undoing Project" tells the story of two Israeli psychologists who made some surprising discoveries about the way people think. According to the "Moneyball" author, it's all about framing.
How just 8 flavors have defined American cuisine
In her new book, Sarah Lohman says that even though America is culturally and ethnically diverse, its food is united by a handful of tastes that have permeated our nation's cuisine for centuries.