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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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.

Minneapolis writer weaves scams, sibling ties into new novel
You’ve likely heard of capable kids who are basically the adults in their family. That's definitely true of Drew, the central character of Minneapolis writer Laura Zimmermann's darkly humorous new young adult novel “Just Do This One Thing For Me.”
In her new cookbook, Amy Thielen argues hosting should be more party than performance
Minnesota author and chef Amy Thielen is out with her third book, which she refers to as her “so-called entertaining book.” In it, she encourages hosts to drop the Martha Stewart act and reframe entertaining as the “radically casual art of cooking for others.”
Kirkus Prize names Jesmyn Ward, Héctor Tobar among finalists for top literary award
Finalists for a leading annual literary award were announced Wednesday. The Kirkus Prize awards $50,000 to writers working in the categories of Fiction, Nonfiction and Young Readers' Literature.
Ask a Bookseller: 'Empire of Ice and Stone'
Lee Post of Homer Bookstore says it was hard to stay warm reading Buddy Levy's beautifully written nonfiction book, “Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk,” about at 1913 expedition gone horribly wrong.
'Trail of the Lost' is a gripping tale of hikers missing on the Pacific Crest Trail
Andrea Lankford delves deep into the cases of three men who vanished while hiking, but also explores the history of the PCT and the rich, nuanced subculture, practices and literature that surround it.