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.

Finding literature in lost letters and lists
Davy Rothbart is a writer and storyteller who started Found magazine, a publication made up of notes, photos, grocery lists and other stray pieces of paper found where forgotten things drift.
She's back!
Former "Midmorning" Host Katherine Lanpher, who left Minnesota for New York City, makes her triumphant return to the MPR airwaves, if just for a day. Lanpher is out with a book about her move to the big city.
Music and Ibsen join in message of forgiveness
Terje Vigen, Ibsen's poem of forgiveness is in English and set to music performed by a Norwegian group.
A tale of two sisters
Pulitzer Prize-winning Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen has written a new novel. "Rise and Shine" is the story of two sisters in New York City.
Here is the preface Vern Mikkelsen wrote for his book, "The Vern Mikkelsen Story," by John Egan. Nordin Press, 2006.
Biography recalls Mikkelsen's days with the Minneapolis Lakers
A new biography of Basketball Hall of Famer Vern Mikkelsen recalls his days playing alongside George Mikan and Jim Pollard with the champion Minneapolis Lakers. Read an excerpt.
Author Tess Gallagher was inspired by deaths of people who made an impression.
Nell Freudenberger's Dissident
Nell Freudenberger's new novel "The Dissident" is a book about family, art, and ownership. In the book a famous painter and performance artist arrives in Los Angeles from China. He's come to teach at an exclusive girls school, and to present an exhibition. But who is he really?
Neil Gaiman's busy year
Fantasy writer Neil Gaiman burst onto the international scene two decades ago with his Sandman comic. Since then he's written novels, plays, filmscripts, and children's books. Now his new collection of short stories has already cracked the New York Times Bestsellers List.
Translating David Treuer
Minnesota writer David Treuer's latest novel is about a solitary translator who finds love in an unexpected place. While the novel has won praise from the critics, it's Treuer's book of essays that has really stirred up the literary community.