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.

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. 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. 

A 911 dispatcher tells all
Caroline Burau's book, "Tell Me Exactly What Happened," runs through the terrifying, boring and hilarious moments of her career as a 911 dispatcher.
Better sit down for this one: An exciting book about the history of chairs
OK, fine ... this new chair anthology might not keep you on the edge of your seat, but it does reveal some very interesting ideas about trends in design, culture and social values.
Ask a bookseller: Prairie Lights in Iowa City
Every week, The Thread checks in with booksellers around the country about their favorite books of the moment. This week, we have a recommendations for poetry and a haunting novel.
A kitty leads a double life in Beatrix Potter's posthumously published tale
The unfinished work is a curious afterword to Potter's beloved catalog. But perhaps the best thing about 'The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots' is that it will likely send readers back to Potter's original work.
In 'Ghost Talkers,' the spies are actual spooks
Mary Robinette Kowal's new book imagines a version of World War I where mediums serve in the British Army, and newly dead soldiers are vital sources of information about what's happening at the front.