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The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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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.

Amy Schumer bares her soul in 'The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo'

Amy Schumer bares her soul in 'The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo'

Schumer's new essay collection is revealing, packed with personal diary entries going back to her preteen years -- and funny. But she doesn't shy away from difficult topics like her sexual assault.

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'Homegoing' traces the roots of slavery on both sides of the ocean

'Homegoing' traces the roots of slavery on both sides of the ocean

Yaa Gyasi's novel winds its way from eighteenth-century Ghana to modern day America, following the descendants of two half-sisters separated by history and violence.
by Tracy Mumford

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Riveting 'Obelisk Gate' shatters the stillness

Riveting 'Obelisk Gate' shatters the stillness

N.K. Jemisin continues the story of the Stillness -- a world constantly rocked by quakes, and the rare, gifted people who can control them -- in a second volume even more engrossing than the first.
by Amal El-Mohtar

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The Library Olympics: How fast can you book it?

The Library Olympics: How fast can you book it?

How do librarians find the fastest and quickest-minded among them? With a little Speed Sorting and Cart Racing.
by Tracy Mumford

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How the Burger Court shaped today's conversations on race and crime

How the Burger Court shaped today's conversations on race and crime

St. Paul native Warren Burger served as Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 until 1986. Many think of this as a time in which "nothing happened" on the Supreme Court, but a new book explores the Burger Court's lasting influence.
by MPR News Staff

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Everything is fair game in 'Known and Strange Things'

Everything is fair game in 'Known and Strange Things'

Teju Cole's new essay collection covers politics, poetry, music and even Snapchat. "I love to live things," he says -- and he recommends Miles Davis as a cure for election season stress.

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Where's the diversity in sci-fi? Five authors to read now

Where's the diversity in sci-fi? Five authors to read now

A report from Fireside Fiction showed that less than 2 percent of speculative fiction short stories published last year were by black authors.
by Tracy Mumford

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Creamed, canned and frozen: How the Great Depression revamped U.S. diets

Creamed, canned and frozen: How the Great Depression revamped U.S. diets

During the Depression, cheap, nutritious and filling food was prioritized -- often at the expense of taste. Jane Ziegelman and Andy Coe, authors of "A Square Meal," discuss food trends of the time.

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'Invisible Man': To be young and black in America

'Invisible Man': To be young and black in America

Mychal Denzel Smith's new book tears apart the limited cultural narratives that surround black men. Mixing personal stories with political critique, he asks: How can a young black man thrive in this country?
by MPR News Staff

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China Mieville goes to war in 'New Paris' -- very, very weird war

China Mieville goes to war in 'New Paris' -- very, very weird war

Mieville's new novel is set in 1941 Paris, as occultists and philosophers attempt to fight the Nazi invaders with a surrealism bomb that accidentally unleashes hellish dreams onto the Paris streets.
by Jason Sheehan

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