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. 

Ask a Bookseller: 'Here Goes Nothing'
"Here Goes Nothing" by Steve Toltz has whispers of the 1990 film "Ghost" and the NBC comedy "The Good Place," rolled up in an original and humorous tale.
From the archives: Ross Gay on 'Inciting Joy'
This Friday, on Big Books and Bold Idea, host Kerri Miller talks with psychologist and researcher Dacher Keltner about the science of awe, and how this universal emotion can transform our brains and bodies. So we felt it fitting to bring you a discussion of joy for this week’s archive. Enjoy poet Ross Gay at Talking Volumes last fall discussing his book, “Inciting Joy.”
Ask a Bookseller: A mother-daughter story of travel and art
The recommendation comes from Shannon Daniels of Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich., who says Jessica Au's novel "Cold Enough for Snow" was her top staff pick this year.
Talking Volumes hits the road this spring
Minnesota Public Radio and the Star Tribune are proud to announce a special spring series of Talking Volumes. We are taking Talking Volumes on the road with two special events in Greater Minnesota. These special Talking Volumes pop-up events will be hosted by award-winning journalist Kerri Miller.
New author Jamila Minnicks on the resilience and history of all-Black towns
Jamila Minnicks’ debut novel is a stunner. “Moonrise Over New Jessup” uses fiction to tell the stories of real all-Black towns that flourished in the American South a century ago, thanks to a policy of separate but equal.
'The Angel Maker' is a thrilling question mark all the way to the end
In Alex North's skilled hands, this narrative that juggles so many elements becomes a very cohesive, enthralling ride into some of the darkest corners of extreme religiousness and human nature.
Ask a Bookseller: 'The Measure'
This novel asks, "What if you knew exactly how many days you had left?"