The Thread® - Books and Literary News

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

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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.

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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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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.

May 2, 2008 12:00 AM

Enger channels the old west in his new novel

Minnesota writer Leif Enger's new novel, "So Brave, Young and Handsome," is a tribute to the Western. An old cowboy seeks forgiveness from his estranged wife as he tries to shake a pursuing Pinkerton detective.

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April 25, 2008 3:52 PM

Erdrich's latest tells a tale of murder, vengeance, and redemption

Minnesota author Louise Erdrich's new novel weaves together the murder of a family, a lynching of men innocent of the crime, and the tangled relationships of Ojibwe and whites living near a small North Dakota town.

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April 21, 2008 5:30 PM

New novel combines development, kung fu and brussels sprouts

When author Don Lee began writing his latest novel, "Wrack and Ruin," he wanted to do something light. He wanted to set the story in a small northern California town, and make one of his characters a farmer. He said the choice of crops was narrow, and one stood out: brussels sprouts.

by Euan Kerr

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April 15, 2008 3:00 AM

Author: Life can get in the way of a well-planned death

Geoff Herbach's new novel, "The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg," tells a story in a very different and potentially controversial way. Most of the story is presented as suicide notes written by one man.

by Euan Kerr

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April 9, 2008 3:41 PM

Mental illness, seen through the eyes of a child

Laura Flynn writes of her at times luminous, at times agonizing experiences growing up with a mother going gradually insane. Flynn's mother suffered from schizophrenia at a time when the disease was not as well known.

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April 8, 2008 2:00 PM

A translators journey through Darfur

In the summer of 2003 Daoud Hari fled as government helicopters and armed horsemen attacked his village in Darfur. Several family members died in the assault. He wanted the world to know what was happening.

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March 25, 2008 12:00 AM

Remembering Jon Hassler

When Minnesota author Jon Hassler died last week at 74, colleagues of his remarked on the impact of his work, both as a writer and a teacher. Midday remembers Hassler in his own words, as we rebroadcast an interview he did with MPR in 1999. We also talk with two of Hassler's longtime friends.

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March 20, 2008 12:22 PM

Jon Hassler, author of 'Staggerford,' dies

Famed Minnesota novelist Jon Hassler has died. Hassler, 74, had suffered from Parkinson disease. He had a string of novels to his name, many of them examining the intricacies of life in small Minnesota towns. As word spreads of his passing Hassler is being remembered both for his writing and his teaching.

by Euan Kerr

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March 11, 2008 5:26 PM

Richard Price says he writes about trouble

Richard Price is acknowledged as one of the great masters of capturing the nuances of street life. His new novel "Lush Life" explores the ripple effect of a single gunshot across New York's Lower East Side.

by Euan Kerr