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 back for its 25th season. Join us at the Fitzgerald Theater for four special events with renowned authors, celebrating our anniversary with a special $25 ticket price for MPR members and Star Tribune subscribers. Buy tickets here.

2 determined mothers clash over integration efforts in 'What's Mine and Yours'
NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with Naima Coster about her novel “What's Mine And Yours,” about a North Carolina high school in the middle of an integration program in the early 2000.
King Cat John Porcellino on comics, zines and trying to make the world less crazy
Cartoonist and zine-maker John Porcellino has been a hugely influential figure in the world of zine-making. As several of his classic books are reissued, we talk to him about his life and work
'It's hard to leave him': 'Sympathizer' spy story continues in 'The Committed'
Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer Prize-winning spy novel “The Sympathizer” told the story of a communist double agent just after the Vietnam War — his quest for revolution resumes in “The Committed.”
Ask a Bookseller: 'Saint X' is not your typical thriller
Maya Aurichio of Maria’s Bookshop in Durango, Colo., recommends "Saint X" by Alexis Schaitkin. She called the novel a thoughtful twist on a “classic beautiful dead white girl thriller.” 
'Hunt, Gather, Parent' offers lessons collected around the world
NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff found that parenting books she read after becoming a mom left a lot out. When she went through a tough period with her daughter, she traveled the world in search of guidance.
Tim O'Brien on late-in-life fatherhood and the things he carried from Vietnam
Now 74, Tim O'Brien didn't become a father until his late 50s. He reflects on writing, mortality and his experiences in Vietnam in the new documentary, “The War and Peace of Tim O'Brien.”
A botched execution leads to a search for answers in 'Two Truths and a Lie'
Ellen McGarrahan was a young reporter for The Miami Herald, when she witnessed an execution that went horribly wrong. She revisits the case of Jesse Tafero in an intense new true crime book.