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 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.

June 9, 2020 7:02 PM

'There is no neutral': 'Nice white people' can still be complicit in a racist society

“White Fragility” author Robin DiAngelo says that the status quo in the United States is racism, and for white people, that's comfortable. "We've got to start making it uncomfortable," she says.

by Ari Shapiro

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 9, 2020 4:00 AM

In 'Rigged,' a comprehensive account of decades of election interference

Russia's attack on the 2016 election was novel in its scope and its methods, but the underlying principles were old, writes David Shimer in an important new history.

by Philip Ewing

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 7, 2020 1:08 PM

This list of books, films and podcasts about racism is a start, not a panacea

We've compiled a list of places you can go to learn more about systemic racism — acknowledging that, while it's important to have information, this list is not a prescription.

by Isabella Rosario

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 6, 2020 5:45 PM

In 'Cry Havoc,' former Charlottesville mayor details a tragic day

"The value of having fought for things and standing at the end, having the experience of having fought for them in the real world, there's nothing like it," Michael Signer tells NPR.

by Michel Martin

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 6, 2020 7:50 AM

Your bookshelf may be part of the problem

Anti-racist reading lists are making the rounds right now — and they can be useful if people do the work of reading. But critic Juan Vidal suggests you look closer to home, to your own bookshelf.

by Juan Vidal

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 4, 2020 7:07 AM

'This Is One Way To Dance' explores a life straddling congruent realities

Essayist Sejal Shah brings important, refreshing, and depressing observations about what it means to have dark skin and an "exotic" name, when the only country you've ever lived in is America.

by Martha Anne Toll

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 3, 2020 2:24 PM

Publishers sue Internet Archive for 'mass copyright infringement'

The lawsuit filed this week in federal court alleges that the organization, which lends books online for free, amounts to a "piracy site" that has been eluding copyright law for years.

by Colin Dwyer

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 3, 2020 1:58 PM

From Freddie Gray to George Floyd: Wes Moore says it's time to 'change the systems'

In Five Days, Moore chronicles the uprising that occurred in Baltimore following Gray's death. "We're basically reliving history right now," he says of Floyd's death at the hands of police.

by Terry Gross

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 2, 2020 12:54 PM

Russian-American Masha Gessen sees Putin in Trump, trouble in future

The New Yorker journalist says Putin and Trump were elected president without really wanting the job. They ran "not for president but for autocrat" and did not expect to settle for anything less.

by Ron Elving

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 1, 2020 5:41 PM

The Thread: Abi Dare’s 'The Girl with the Louding Voice'

This week’s Thread must-read is a novel about women and economic power.

by Kerri Miller

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.