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. 

The test that can look into a child's (reading) future
Neurobiologist Nina Kraus believes she and her team at Northwestern University have found a way -- a half-hour test -- to predict kids' literacy skill long before they're old enough to begin reading.
The Thread Book Club: 'In a Dark Wood'
In one tragic instant, Joseph Luzzi became a widower and a first-time father. His memoir describes how he turned to the 14th century poet Dante to find his way through the grief.
The oldest murder mystery in Minnesota
In 1839, the badly beaten body of John Hays was found on the shores of the Mississippi River. Edward Phalen, an early St. Paul settler, was the first suspect.