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.

Emma Straub celebrates the pleasure of fandom in 'American Fantasy'
Come aboard the American Fantasy, where the (now middle-aged) fans of a (now middle-aged) boy band are congregating to celebrate the (mostly) uncomplicated joys of fandom. It’s a cruise — and a summer beach read — you don’t want to miss.
History of Native American women leaders in the Twin Cities told in new book
A new book dives into the history of Native American women in leadership and the organizations they helped build in the Twin Cities. Authors Audrey Thayer and Colette Hyman will speak at Milkweed Books in Minneapolis on Wednesday night.
What are you reading this summer?
Summer is a great time to get lost in a good story, discover a new author, or tackle that book on your nightstand. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two booksellers about their recommendations and what Minnesotans are reading.
Here are the nonfiction books NPR staffers have loved so far this year
A biography of Hannibal Lecter. A meditation on trees. A memoir by a child prodigy violinist. A treatise on the way we poop. These are just a few of the nonfiction books our NPR colleagues are enjoying.
Ann Patchett lauds the romance of friendship in 'Whistler'
Ann Patchett returns to Big Books and Bold Ideas for a boisterous conversation with Kerri Miller about writing a novel within a novel, the romance of friendship and how Kate DiCamillo changed Patchett’s new novel, “Whistler.”