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. 

4 lives are upended by an impulsive kiss in the epic novel ‘Buckeye’
Patrick Ryan’s novel focuses on two married couples and stretches from pre-WWII to the close of the 20th century, capturing both the sweep of history and the mundane particularity of everyday life.
New books out today: A Dan Brown thriller, John Prine bio and World Wide Web memoir
New books this week include “Secret of Secrets” — the sixth installment of “The Da Vinci Code” saga, plus a tech memoir from Tim Berners-Lee and a career-spanning anthology from Terry McMillan.
Mike Osterholm reflects on lessons from the pandemic in 'The Big One'
Public health leaders, researchers, doctors and nurses saved a lot of lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. But serious errors were also made. In his new book, University of Minnesota epidemiologist Mike Osterholm pulls no punches on why last time may just be a practice run for “The Big One.”
New books this week track John Williams’ life, future pandemics and NASA fiction
This week’s publishing highlights are a bumper crop of biography, science and fiction — including new reads the from authors of “The Sweetness of Water,” “The God of Small Things” and “Deadliest Enemy.”
A Nigerian group attempts a 431-hour reading marathon to set a Guinness World Record
In Lagos, Nigeria, three men and two women have been reading aloud for over 431 hours to set a Guinness World Record. They're part of a campaign to promote literacy in Africa’s most populous country.
Ask a Bookseller: Live at the State Fair
September has begun, and with it, the anticipation of autumn weather, school, and great fall reads. MPR News host and newscaster Emily Bright spoke with three booksellers from Minnesota about current trends and their favorite reads during a live conversation at the Minnesota State Fair.
Minnesotan adapts ‘Tuck Everlasting’ into a graphic novel, celebrating its 50th anniversary
Minneapolis-based artist K. Woodman-Maynard has adapted Natalie Babbitt’s classic “Tuck Everlasting” into a new graphic novel, collaborating with the author’s estate to create a vibrant, modernized retelling that highlights the story’s themes of loneliness, connection and mortality.
This week sees a number of new books from seasoned heavy hitters
A number of seasoned veterans with a taste for big swings and clever premises have new novels out this week, including stories of gothic horror and dark academia from the likes of R.F. Kuang, Leah Stein and Helen Oyeyemi.