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. 

How to bake a cake like it's 1820
Hundreds of rare recipes, from as far back as the 1500s, can be found at the Wangensteen Historical Library at the University of Minnesota.
In first novel, former hostage Ingrid Betancourt tells a story of captivity
"The Blue Line" follows a woman who is detained during Argentina's Dirty War. Betancourt says writing the novel helped her process the years she spent as a captive of Colombian revolutionaries.
An unkillable myth about atheists
The idea that atheists cling to their non-belief despite a sad loss of meaning in their lives is a tired old myth, says anthropologist and atheist Barbara J. King.