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. 

A wise, witty romp through time -- and indie rock
Packed with music references and enough science to keep its time travel premise plausible, "Every Anxious Wave" "rings with a uniqueness that transcends the tropes of time travel and indie romance."
Jhumpa Lahiri writes her memoir in Italian: 'No one expected me to do it'
"The Interpreter of Maladies" author is a successful, Pulitzer Prize-winning English-language writer. But she found writing in Italian gave her true freedom. "Language is a very messy thing," she says.
How do you spot a nonconformist? Check their Internet browser
According to Adam Grant, a person's preferred browser is one way to tell whether they accept or reject the defaults in their life. His new book is called 'Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World.'