The Thread® - Books and Literary 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.

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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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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. 

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 The New York Times picks the best books of the year
Pamela Paul, editor for The New York Times Book Review, offers an inside look at how the list comes together. Listen to a selection of interviews with authors who made the 2015 cut.
It's a dog read dog world
MPR News host Kerri Miller is hooked on books about dogs for this week's reading recommendations.
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.'
In baby's 'First Bite,' a chance to shape a child's taste
Bee Wilson's new book, 'First Bite,' examines how genetics, culture, memory and early feeding patterns influence the palate. She says babies are most open to new flavors between ages 4 and 7 months.
Is Amazon planning hundreds of bookstores? Analysts doubt it
A mall real estate executive let slip that Amazon plans to build up to 400 walk-in stores. Analysts were skeptical, and now the executive says his comment wasn't intended to represent Amazon's plans.
Where are the diverse children's books?
A new survey commissioned by Lee & Low Books shows that the publishing industry is 79 percent white. That trend carries through to the books that are published.
The Hong Kong bookseller who's keeping 'banned' books on his shelves
Five people in Hong Kong's book industry have disappeared. All were linked to books forbidden in mainland China. Paul Tang says he has no plans to remove works that are critical of the Chinese leadership.
A writer straddles Jerusalem's two worlds in 'Native'
With wit and subtle anecdote, Sayed Kashua explores the meaning of identity, prejudice and everyday life as an Arab-Israeli newspaper writer living in Jerusalem.