The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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Sign up for The Thread newsletter to get reading recommendations from Kerri Miller and other bookworms around the MPR newsroom. Sam Stroozas rounds up local events and Minnesota book news you may have missed.

Ask a Bookseller

Ask a Bookseller is a weekly series where host Emily Bright 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 and produced by Kelly Gordon every Friday at 11 a.m., featuring conversations about books and other literary ideas. Listen to Big Books and Bold Ideas here.

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.

Talking Volumes: Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink on "Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel"
Talking Volumes host Kerri Miller and co-authors Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink talk about "Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel" on October 25, 2015 at The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.
Talking Volumes: Jonathan Franzen and "Purity"
Talking Volumes host Kerri Miller and author Jonathan Franzen talk about his book, "Purity" on September 15, 2015 at The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.
Talking Volumes 2015 season guide
The Talking Volumes 2015 season brings Jonathan Franzen, Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink, John Irving, Stacy Schiff, and Jane Smiley.
When America's librarians went to war
How did librarians fit into national security in the 20th century? In an array of ways, says Cara Bertram, an archivist for the American Library Association. Libraries were established at hospitals and military bases.
When the authors of the new graphic history of the Civil War began their project, they couldn't know that the Confederate flag would be so painfully relevant again.
Family lost and found in Mary Anna King's new memoir
Mary Anna King's new memoir makes you laugh -- and makes you wonder if it's okay to laugh.
'The Ghost in My Brain': Climbing back from a concussion
A concussion changed Clark Elliott's life in a second. In his book, he talks about what he lost, and what he was able to find again.
Exploring the largest Sherlock Holmes archive in the world
More than 60,000 items related to Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are housed in the University of Minnesota's cavernous library -- 85 feet underground.
A sexy novel emerges from questions that can't be unasked
In "Summerlong," author Dean Bakopoulos delivers a steamy story of middle-aged loss. A husband and wife lose touch and wonder what went wrong.