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.

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.

March 16, 2022 8:50 AM

Former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch warns Putin will move west if he wins in Ukraine

Yovanovitch served as the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine but was relieved of her post following a smear campaign orchestrated by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Her new memoir is “Lessons From the Edge.”

by Terry Gross

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.

March 16, 2022 5:50 AM

Three YA fantasies take you on a journey — at home

These three YA fantasies offer up creative magic systems and mythologies, stakes as high as they come, and girls with the grit to get it done.

by Caitlyn Paxson

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.

March 15, 2022 1:12 PM

'One For All' is a gender-bent retelling of 'The Three Musketeers'

In Lillie Lainoff's YA novel, a teen with a chronic illness aims to follow in the forthright footsteps of her father, a former musketeer.

by Alethea Kontis

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.

March 15, 2022 12:00 PM

From the archives: Historian Eric Foner on three constitutional amendments that altered history

In anticipation of Friday’s show about the Civil War, we’re revisiting a conversation Kerri Miller had with Pulitzer-prize winning author Eric Foner back in 2019, about how that era changed what it means to be an American.

by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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.

March 12, 2022 9:36 AM

A kids' book travels through history to ask: Where does 'Blue' come from?

The color blue is all around us, but where does it come from? In Blue, written by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and illustrated by Daniel Minter, the answer is as deep as the sea and wide as the sky.

by Samantha Balaban

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.

March 12, 2022 4:14 AM

'In Defense of Witches' is a celebration of women

Mona Chollet's book shows how women are still today expected to act certain ways or be ostracized, as it hails feminist minds — our modern witches — and their work.

by Gabino Iglesias

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.

March 10, 2022 2:28 PM

Wajahat Ali on being American with an asterisk

Writer and activist Wajahat Ali loves America — but he knows that being a brown, Muslim in this country means America doesn’t always love him back. In his personal and often hilarious memoir, “Go Back To Where You Came From,” Ali shares his own experience of being both "us" and "them."

by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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.

March 10, 2022 8:34 AM

'The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea' asks: What is it that defines our destiny?

Axie Oh's retelling of "The Tale of Shim Cheong" explores what happens when love of family changes the trajectory of those involved in the Sea God's search for a hundredth, and final, bride.

by Alethea Kontis

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.

March 10, 2022 8:33 AM

'Glory' nods to Orwell as animals explore survival under a corrupt government

NoViolet Bulawayo's book expresses a people's frustration, terror, resilience, uprising and hope in a way that can be applied to a multitude of nations and political realities around the globe.

by Ilana Masad

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.

March 9, 2022 12:20 PM

Sandy Hook ushered in new era of conspiracy and lies, author finds

Following the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school, journalist Elizabeth Williamson says, conspiracy theorists tormented the victims' families by accusing them of being actors.

by Dave Davies

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.