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. 

What you can do with your library card (other than check out books)
Checking out books is only the beginning: Library cards open all kinds of doors. You can download free music, borrow vinyl records, learn to build websites and go to story time — in 7 different languages.
'A Manual for Cleaning Women' showcases a gritty, one-of-a-kind voice
A posthumously published collection of stories steers recognition to Lucia Berlin, whose fictional narrators are the sort who have seen it all and aren't afraid to tell you about their crappy day.
'Eileen' is dark, damaged fun
Ottessa Moshfegh's new novel follows a defiantly, triumphantly off-putting young woman who dreams of escaping her grim New England existence. Critic Jean Zimmerman calls it "pleasingly perverse."
In new memoir, Maria tells us how she got, how she got to Sesame Street
Sonia Manzano has spent 44 years as one of the lucky residents of Sesame Street. In her memoir she describes how, during her own difficult childhood in the South Bronx, she sought comfort in TV.
Mom and toddler put sleep-inducing 'Rabbit' book to the test
Psychologist Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin designed his best-selling (and self-published) story 'The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep' to help kids doze off. We visited a local naptime to see if it works.