The Thread® - Books and Literary News

The Thread from MPR News

The Thread® is your source for book recommendations and other literary news.

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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.

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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.

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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.

In Cixin Liu's 'Supernova Era,' the children really are our future
In this early work from the Hugo Award-winning author, a supernova near Earth kills off everyone over the age of 13 — and the remaining kids turn increasingly to violence as they struggle to rebuild.
In 'The Less People Know About Us' a mysterious identity theft hits close to home
Axton Betz-Hamilton was 12 when her family's mail began disappearing. Her memoir details what follows and, when she discovers the culprit, the painful process of collecting the pieces of her past.
George R.R. Martin really does know you want him to write faster
Martin, who's working on the long-awaited sixth volume of his series A Song of Ice and Fire, rarely gives interviews — but NPR's Scott Simon recently caught up with him onstage at an awards ceremony.
A story of the kidnapped children of Spain
Bookseller Shirley Mullin recommends a deeply research novel about the children stolen from their parents under the Franco regime in Spain.