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. 

Sampling new foods at the fair and on the page
The tantalizing, spice-infused descriptions of food in Richard Morais' novel, "The Hundred Foot Journey," will leave you hungry -- but the book will leave you satisfied.
'George' wants you to know: She's really Melissa
One of this fall's most anticipated books is about a transgender fourth-grader. Publisher Scholastic is employing some of the same marketing techniques it used for megahits like 'The Hunger Games.'
The girl who outlived her creator: Salander returns in 'Spider's Web'
The fourth book in Stieg Larsson's bestselling Millennium series comes out internationally today -- but Larsson died in 2004, so his father and brother hired a new writer to continue the series
Book briefs: Is Scandinavian children's literature more risque than others?
Every year, a new group of books lands on the American Library Association's Frequently Challenged Books list. A Scandinavian author argues that in her region, there are no taboos for children's books.