Stay Curious. Stay Connected.
MailNewsletters♡Donate Now
Sign up
*
Password must be at least 8 characters and contain one uppercase letter, one lowercase letter, one number and one symbol
Already have an account?
Sign in to your profile
Forgot Password?
New to MPR News?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Reset Password

Enter the username on file and we'll send you a code to reset your password.

Still require assistance or not sure what your User Name is?
Welcome back
to news
for you
Email Verification

A verification code has been emailed to

Still awaiting the code?

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.

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.

Poets shout out: a look at spoken word

The Twin Cities boasts a vibrant spoken word culture that reaches many cultures and backgrounds. Two practitioners of the cross between hip hop and poetry talk about the art.

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.

The Snow Fox

Susan Fromberg Schaeffer's latest novel, "The Snow Fox," is an epic love story set a thousand years ago in Japan. It follows the life of a beautiful and inspired poet, with a reputation for a cruel streak. She falls for the samurai assigned as her bodyguard, but they are torn apart in the intrigues and violence of the almost perpetual civil wars of the time.

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.

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Her stories have been called tough and unsentimental. ZZ Packer's characters try to undo trouble of their own making, and in the process they show how racism wends through a supposedly colorblind society.

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.

Neil Gaiman talks about his haunting book for children

A young girl discovers an eerie parallel world in a novel for young adults, Coraline. Author Neil Gaiman joins Katherine Lanpher for Talking Volumes. The show was recorded at the Fizgerald Theater on Sunday, Feb. 15.

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.

Fact and fiction at play in memoirs

The art of the memoir owes to both nonfiction and fiction writing. An author and teacher of memoir talks about the controversy over the amount of fiction in some memoirs.

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.

Loving Che

The image of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara has spilled across tee-shirts and dorm-room posters for almost half a century—but who was he? Writer Ana Menendez explores that question in her novel "Loving Che."

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.

Talking Volumes author Neil Gaiman

One of the top writers of graphic novels adds a children's novel to his critically-acclaimed work. It's the story of a child discovering another world strangely parallel to her own.

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.

Neil Gaiman on Dave McKean

Neil Gaiman describes his work with his friend and the illustarator of "Coraline," Dave Mckean.

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.

Talking Volumes: "A Brief History of the Flood"

A broadcast of Talking Volumes at the Fitzgerald Theater. Katherine Lanpher talks with former Minnesotan Jean Harfenist about her debut novel, A Brief History of the Flood. The book chronicles a girl's growing up in a troubled family.

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.

Minneapolis author receives top children's book award

The story of a small mouse in love with a princess won the top honor in children's literature from the American Library Association on Monday. Minneapolis author Kate DiCamillo received the 2004 Newbery Medal for the year's best writing for "The Tale of Despereaux."

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.