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.

Ann Patchett: 'Guess what, folks? We judge books by their covers'

Ann Patchett: 'Guess what, folks? We judge books by their covers'

Author Ann Patchett wrote her latest novel because she couldn't find any other book that captured "the big messiness that is modern family."
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!
10 deaths, one day: A look at the youngest victims of gun violence

10 deaths, one day: A look at the youngest victims of gun violence

On average, seven children and teens are killed by guns each day in the U.S. Reporter Gary Younge picked one day -- Nov. 23, 2013 -- and profiled the ten boys who died on that date.
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!
'Thrill Me' gets personal about life and writing

'Thrill Me' gets personal about life and writing

Writer Benjamin Percy has been on both sides of the divide between literary and genre fiction, and "Thrill Me" is both a meditation on the writing life and a passionate argument against that divide.
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!
Little Free Libraries robbed throughout Twin Cities

Little Free Libraries robbed throughout Twin Cities

While nobody knows yet who is behind the thefts and why, there has been speculation that the books are being stolen so they can be sold at local bookstores.
by The 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!
For John Sandford, Minnesota remains the perfect crime scene

For John Sandford, Minnesota remains the perfect crime scene

Thrill master John Sandford, who set his latest book, "Escape Clause," at the Minnesota Zoo, talks with MPR News about his characters' Minnesota roots -- and the hardest part about crime writing.
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!
Ask a bookseller: Left Bank Books in St. Louis

Ask a bookseller: Left Bank Books in St. Louis

Bookseller Shane Mullen has two eerie, unsettling reads for your October book list. The first deals with a horror film gone awry in the Amazon and the second revolves around the mysterious disappearance of young twin girls.
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!
Here's the only good thing -- books! -- about the Lynx losing the WNBA championship

Here's the only good thing -- books! -- about the Lynx losing the WNBA championship

The mayors of Minneapolis and Los Angeles staged a friendly wager over the game: The loser has to send a shipment of books by local women authors to the winning city. Minneapolis is preparing to send the books next week.
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!
Novel offers a fierce hymn to troubled small towns

Novel offers a fierce hymn to troubled small towns

A Minnesota writer uses her skill at sharp storytelling to portray life in a place beset by hard times and hard drugs.
by Euan Kerr

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!
'American Crime Story' to tackle the tale of a serial killer with Minnesota connections

'American Crime Story' to tackle the tale of a serial killer with Minnesota connections

The third season of the television show will tell the story of Andrew Cunanan, who killed fashion designer Gianni Versace in Florida in 1997 — after a killing spree that began in Minnesota just weeks before.
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!