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. 

Don DeLillo returns with 'Zero K'
In Don DeLillo's new novel, a billionaire secretly funds an enterprise aimed at preserving people through cryogenics -- a technology he hopes to use to rejoin his already-frozen wife.
Self-help tips on 'Manly Health' from Walt Whitman
In 1858, the poet published a series of advice columns -- titled "Manly Health and Training" -- in which he recommends wearing a beard, taking a cold bath every morning and avoiding condiments.
Tracing America's 'opiate epidemic'
This epidemic is different than the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s and early 1990s, said author Sam Quinones. His book "Dreamland" explores the roots of the issue.