The Thread® - Books and Literary 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. 

Boy says he didn't go to heaven; publisher says it will pull book
Nearly five years after it hit best-seller lists, a book that purported to be a 6-year-old boy's story of visiting angels and heaven after suffering a car crash is being pulled from shelves.
Road trip: Laura Ingalls Wilder museums and attractions
Museums dedicated to the history of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her family's adventures are scattered through the Midwest.
'Tasty': How flavor helped make us human
While the advent of the foodie may be a 21st century phenomenon, from an evolutionary standpoint, flavor has long helped define who we are as a species, a new book argues.
Five things you didn't know about Laura Ingalls Wilder
Wilder's autobiography is finally published, nearly 60 years after her death, with extensive new details about life on the prairie.
'America's Bitter Pill' argues why health care law 'won't work'
Journalist Steven Brill's latest book critiques the Affordable Care Act, which he calls "unsustainable."
By the numbers: The best books of the year
Which books landed on the most 'best of' lists? And who wrote them: Women? Men? Millennials? Boomers? Here's a little breakdown of the books of 2014.
From Austin, Amanda Hocking spins a fanciful, lucrative, world
Austin-based writer Amanda Hocking has become a sensation of the publishing world with troll romances that have lured young and older readers.
How to fix America's schools
Joel Klein, who led the New York Department of Education for 8 years, discusses his new book, which is focused on fixing America's schools.