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.

Ask a Bookseller: 'Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood'
Sierra Keolanui, Lise Michelle Childers and Allison Benz of Native Books in Honolulu, Hawaii, conferred about their favorite books and quickly reached a consensus “Ke Kumu Aupuni: The Foundation of Hawaiian Nationhood” by Samuel Mānaiakalani  Kamakau.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen joined host Kerri Miller on stage at the Fitzgerald Theater for Talking Volumes to talk about his new memoir, “A Man of Two Faces.”
Scholastic backtracks, saying it will stop separating diverse books for fairs in 2024
Scholastic faced backlash for putting books dealing with race, gender and sexuality in their own optional category for middle school book fairs. It's now apologizing and working to reverse course.
 'Let Us Descend' follows a slave on a painful journey — finding some hope on the way
Jesmyn Ward's narrative forces readers to look at our country's ugly past and face the lingering effects of history — but it also tells a story of perseverance and the power of the spiritual world.
Why children of married parents do better, but America is moving the other way
Almost half of all babies born in the U.S. are born to unmarried mothers. That's not good for children, says progressive economist Melissa Kearney in her new book, “The Two-Parent Privilege.”
Ask a Bookseller: 'Night of the Living Rez'
In this week’s Ask a Bookseller, Beth Leonard of Gulf of Maine Books in Brunswick, Maine recommends the short story collection “Night of the Living Rez” by Morgan Talty, an author from Maine and a Penobscot Nation citizen.
'Land of Milk and Honey' depicts a future without the pleasure of food
In C Pam Zhang’s long-awaited second novel, a young Asian chef finds herself cooking for the uber-rich on a mountaintop in Italy, one of the last places on Earth where crops still grow.
Advocates hope new Twin Cities zine fest kindles interest in queer, trans art
Zines — small, self-published magazines — have long offered a way to connect people around specific interests, especially in the arts. Thanks to a Twin Cities archivist, the first Midwest Queer & Trans Zine Fest will debut this weekend in Minneapolis.