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. 

'The Mandibles' is financial dystopia with a bite
Lionel Shriver's newest novel is a work of speculative fiction: A national debt crisis leads to a systematic civil breakdown, bringing a once-prosperous family
The New York Times wrote Herr's book "Dispatches" was "a certain kind of reporting come of age ... scaled of abstractions down to the viscera, the violence and the sexuality understood and transcended. Stunning."
A metaphysical thriller with a dash of dangerous politics
Lydia Millet's new novel follows a woman fleeing her husband, who has his eye on a state legislative seat. With her daughter in tow, she crosses the continent from Alaska to Maine and holes up in a remote hotel.
The case for 1971 as rock's greatest year
That year, music journalist David Hepworth argues, offered an explosion of talent from David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Al Green, John Lennon and more. He discusses his new book, "Never a Dull Moment."