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. 

Talking Volumes 2016 season guide
The 16th season of Talking Volumes includes interviews with Elizabeth Alexander, Carl Hiaasen, Gloria Steinem, Ann Patchett and Colson Whitehead.
'Nobody is immune': Bracing for Zika's first summer in the U.S.
Author Donald. G. McNeil Jr. predicts that 2016 will be the worst year for Zika transmission in the U.S. "After this year, a fair number of people will be immune, and ... immunity will grow," he says.
Grief is a 'hamster wheel': How a memoir about death can still be funny
In the span of seven weeks, Nora McInerny Purmort miscarried, and then watched both her father and her husband die of cancer. Her memoir tackles grief with unflinching humor and honesty.
Waziyatawin: Take down Fort Snelling
Waziyatawin's book, 'What Does Justice Looks Like?', explores ways the state of Minnesota could make amends for its treatment of Native people.
Novelist Richard Wagamese steps beyond barriers
Richard Wagamese is a well-known novelist in his native Canada, and with the re-release of two of his novels through Minneapolis publisher Milkweed Editions, he's making his mark further south.