The Thread® - Books and Literary 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.

September 30, 2022 4:00 AM

'Luda' isn't a book you read — it's a book you experience

Luda is a magical, multilayered, intoxicating story about identity, stardom, performance, lust, and death that could only have come from the prodigious mind of Grant Morrison.

by Gabino Iglesias

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September 29, 2022 4:00 AM

'Solito' is a personal story of immigration that sheds light on the universal

Javier Zamora's book, as touching as it is sad, and as full of hope and kindness as it is harrowing, is the kind of narrative that manages to bring a huge debate down to a very personal space.

by Gabino Iglesias

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September 27, 2022 1:30 PM

In 'Intimacies, Received,' moments of intimacy come tangled with moments of violence

Taneum Bambrick's second collection of poems portrays how moments of intimacy can represent moments of violence – and how difficult it can be to untangle the two from each other.

by Jeevika Verma

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September 27, 2022 11:00 AM

From the archives: Emily Bernard and the complexity of being a black woman in America

This week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas conversation is with Boyah J. Farah. His new book, “America Made me a Black Man,” traces his path from Somalia to the United States. Emily Bernard also knows what it is like to wrestle with being Black in this country. Enjoy her 2019 interview as you anticipate the show with Farah on Friday.

by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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September 24, 2022 8:38 AM

Ask a Bookseller: A Spoonful of Frogs

“A Spoonful of Frogs” was written by Casey Lyall and illustrated by Caldecott Honor artist Vera Brosgol. Angela Whited says she’s already read this book at story time at Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, and the book was a hit with listeners of all ages.

by Emily Bright

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September 24, 2022 4:00 AM

How independent bookstores help in the fight against book banning and why it matters

An Atlanta store is one of hundreds of independent booksellers across the country celebrating the freedom to read as schools, universities and public libraries face attempts to ban or restrict books.

by Fernando Alfonso III

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September 23, 2022 12:00 PM

How art and poetry inspired Maggie O'Farrell's new novel

Full of the beauty and drama she used to bring to life the Shakespearean story of “Hamnet,” Maggie O’Farrell turns to Renaissance Italy in her new novel, “The Marriage Portrait,” where she paints a picture of a resilient young girl trying to avoid being killed by her new husband.

by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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September 21, 2022 10:49 AM

'Lucy By The Sea' succeeds at capturing disruptions, anxieties of pandemic

Elizabeth Strout's latest is a chronicle of a plague year — and also of the main character's growing insights into herself, her family, and their changing relationships during this period.

by Heller McAlpin

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September 20, 2022 2:00 PM

From the archives: Lauren Groff discusses 'Matrix' at Talking Volumes

This Friday’s Big Books and Bold Ideas will feature a conversation with Maggie O’Farrell, whose new book “The Marriage Portrait,” is set in 16th century Italy. That’s not unlike Lauren Groff’s 2021 hit, “Matrix,” which plays out in medieval France. So for this week’s deep cut, enjoy Groff talking with MPR News host Kerri Miller at last year’s Talking Volumes.

by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon