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.

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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.

Sigrid Nunez and Victoria Johnson at Concordia College in Moorhead for National Book Awards event
National Book Award finalist Victoria Johnson and National Book Award winner Sigrid Nunez speak at the 14th annual National Book Awards event at Concordia College in Moorhead.
Bookseller Adah Fitzgeral recommends a novel that’s about “finding the extraordinary in the ordinary.” It revolves around a small town near the coast in North Carolina, and a woman who lives life very much her own way.
How high school debate in 1990s Kansas explains the present: A novel argument
Author Ben Lerner's new semi-autobiographical book, The Topeka School, finds a competitive-debate whiz kid navigating adolescence — and perhaps the precursors to today's American politics.
In 'Tough Love,' former U.N. ambassador Susan Rice aims to reclaim her voice
The former national security adviser endured ridicule over comments made after the Benghazi embassy attack. Her book allows her tell her own story — and she is also open about foreign policy failures.