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. 

The weird secret history of Soviet X-ray music
In Cold War Russia, getting your hands on an American rock record was close to impossible. But a few bootleggers found a way to hide their contraband in the last place anyone would think to look.
As writers' wages wane in digital chapter, authors pen demands
Numbers show more authors are finding it hard to make a living income. Fresh off of fighting the Google Books case, the Authors Guild is now taking on author contracts in an open letter to publishers.
'Geography of Genius' explores how surroundings influence ideas
Author Eric Weiner identifies Renaissance Florence, Classical Athens and Silicon Valley as "genius clusters." And he explains how the right amount of friction and competition can help geniuses thrive.
'NFL Confidential': Anonymous player on why he loathes the league
From concussions to domestic violence, a current pro football player tells all about what's it really like on the gridiron and beyond in "NFL Confidential: True Confessions from the Gutter of Football."