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.

John Lewis' graphic memoir wins 4 American Library Association awards

John Lewis' graphic memoir wins 4 American Library Association awards

March: Book Three, the third installment in the civil rights leader's memoir, won the Coretta Scott King Award for best African-American author. The Caldecott and Newbery medals also were announced.
by Lynn Neary

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!
Minneapolis author named Newbery Medal winner

Minneapolis author named Newbery Medal winner

Kelly Barnhill won the prize, one of the most prestigious in children's literature, for her book, "The Girl Who Drank the Moon."
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!
'Soviet Daughter': How a great-grandmother's diary became a graphic novel

'Soviet Daughter': How a great-grandmother's diary became a graphic novel

After her beloved great-grandmother's death, author Julia Alekseyeva discovered her memoirs, bursting with rich details of her life in the USSR enduring wars, pogroms, and purges.

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!
'Homesick': An edgy and gritty collection of short stories

'Homesick': An edgy and gritty collection of short stories

Bookseller Tom Lagasse recommends Ottessa Moshfegh's new book of stories, saying it's 'not for the faint of heart.'
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!
'Human Acts' tries to reconcile bloody human impulses

'Human Acts' tries to reconcile bloody human impulses

In Han Kang's sharp, almost painfully sensitive new novel, set during and after South Korea's 1980 Gwangju student uprising, people spill blood -- but they also brave death to donate it.
by Annalisa Quinn

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!
The history of poetry at presidential inaugurations

The history of poetry at presidential inaugurations

The tradition began with JFK and continued with presidents Clinton and Obama. To date, no Republican president has had poetry at his swearing-in.
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!
A bookish tour through Obama's years in the White House

A bookish tour through Obama's years in the White House

As the current reader-in-chief finishes his term, we've gathered a list of many of the books Obama recommended, read and bought while in office.
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!
In 'Homesick,' Ottessa Moshfegh makes the unlikeable understandable

In 'Homesick,' Ottessa Moshfegh makes the unlikeable understandable

The characters in Ottessa Moshfegh's new collection are cold, unfiltered, frequently pathetic -- all suffering from unease and nameless longing, made understandable by each perfectly-built story.
by Michael Schaub

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!