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.

January 26, 2022 11:07 AM

'Honor' is a searing meditation on the meaning of dignity in a dehumanizing world

Thrity Umrigar's novel is about India's humanitarian crisis — with its depictions of misogyny and scenes of public shaming, mistreatment and torture — but it's also about a transformative journey.

by Sharmila Mukherjee

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January 25, 2022 4:49 PM

Want to understand the U.S.? This historian says the South holds the key

Imani Perry says the South can be seen as an "origin point" for the way the nation operates. Her book “South to America” reflects on the region's history and traces the steps of an enslaved ancestor.

by Dave Davies

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January 25, 2022 4:03 PM

'And I say, Hey! HEY!' Aardvark Arthur's wonderful new days are ending

The world-famous aardvark first appeared in print over 45 years ago. The Emmy and Peabody award-winning TV show is about to begin its 25th and final season — and creator Marc Brown has a new book.

by Elizabeth Blair

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January 25, 2022 8:27 AM

Wajahat Ali's 'Go Back To Where You Came From' is biting and funny and full of heart

Ali's memoir is intelligent and incisive in its arguments against "whiteness" but focuses, too, on hope and heart — calling for a more compassionate world through community and solidarity.

by Jenny Bhatt

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January 25, 2022 4:00 AM

Meet the Minnesotan who wrote a novel in Japanese — and then got it published

When Marnie Jorenby sets herself a challenge, she doesn't hold back. Not only did she decide to write a novel, she decided she’d write it in Japanese and get it published in Japan. It took a while, but she did it.

by Euan Kerr

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January 24, 2022 12:42 PM

What library lovers are reading

As a library lover herself, Kerri Miller introduces you to the books that are in greatest demand in the nation’s libraries.

by Kerri Miller

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January 23, 2022 1:45 PM

Ask a Bookseller: A new exploration of America's last slave ship and its legacy

Jake Reiss of The Alabama Booksmith near Birmingham, Ala., is looking forward to the publication of a nonfiction book on Jan. 25 that he says is sure to spark conversation.

by Emily Bright

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January 21, 2022 1:40 PM

Booker Prize finalist Nadifa Mohamed's novel revisits Somali seaman's fate in 1950s' Wales

It took many decades after Mahmood Mattan’s execution at Cardiff Prison in Wales for his name to be cleared over a killing he did not commit. Host Kerri Miller talked to author Nadifa Mohamed about her historical novel that looks back on Mattan’s life and the miscarriage of justice.

by Kerri Miller

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January 21, 2022 11:02 AM

'Joan Is Okay' explores the meaning of home, having roots

By exploring the spectrum of commitment in this book, and in her debut novel “Chemistry,” Weike Wang has shown us myriad ways to build a sense of home, myriad ways to feel okay in our skin.

by Thúy Đinh

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January 20, 2022 10:40 AM

'Davos Man' is an angry, powerful look at economic inequality

New York Times writer Peter S. Goodman does not like Davos Man. At all. And his new book does an excellent job explaining why — focusing on the rich getting richer as the COVID-19 pandemic raged.

by Michael Schaub

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