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. 

Novel set in Fargo-Moorhead reveals the dangerous power of family secrets
In "A Fireproof Home for the Bride," Amy Scheibe explores the forbidden relationships, religious intolerance, and hidden violence uncovered by a woman seeking the truth about her family.
Raising kids who want to read
There's a big difference between teaching kids to read and teaching them to love reading, according to author Daniel Willingham.
Jane Austen fans never let the story end
"Prom and Prejudice," "Prada and Prejudice," "Spies and Prejudice" — there are now more than 200 prequels, sequels and adaptations for Austen's classic love story.
March Madness: Battle of the Books
When your favorite childhood books go head to head, who will win? "Harriet the Spy" or "Harry Potter"?
A look back at Minnesota's 'boy governor' Harold Stassen
Stassen was one of the youngest people in the nation ever elected governor. Minnesota voters put the moderate Republican in office back in 1938, when he was only 31 years old.