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. 

Mark Seeley's book chronicles Minnesota weather
Minnesotans are known for their fascination with the weather -- and for good reason. The conditions in the state are about as variable and hard to predict as any place on Earth.
What really happened at the O.K. Corral
It turns out the shootout didn't even happen at a corral. Mary Doria Russell digs for truth in the American myth of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
The golden age of public shaming
Author Jon Ronson writes about people who have raked over the coals on social media in his new book, "So You've Been Publicly Shamed."
Hunting mythical monsters 'At The Water's Edge'
Sara Gruen is following her bestselling "Water for Elephants" with a tale of a young American couple who travel to Scotland during the Second World War in search of the legendary Loch Ness Monster.