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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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.

In her new book, journalist Brigid Schulte asks what if work wasn’t such a grind?
In her new book, “Over Work,” journalist Brigid Schulte examines why we work the way we do and how a broken system could be reformed to make work more productive, autonomous and meaningful.
Making cookies this season? You might want a few tips from famed cookie extraordinaire ‘Zoe Bakes’
The holidays are often an excuse to eat more cookies than any other time of year. Many people have family traditions where they gather to make sweet treats. Zoë François may have your next cookie recipe.
‘Time of the Child’ is a marvelous blend of despair and redemption in Ireland
Set in a small Irish village in the weeks leading up to Christmas 1962, Niall Williams’ latest novel avoids cliché by investing specificity and life into characters and places.
Dreaming of a Black Utopia in Trump’s America
In his new book, “The Black Utopians,” author Aaron Robertson tells the story of how Black folks have created many different versions of utopian communities throughout history — and why those communities tend to be especially meaningful during times of political tension and racial unrest.
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Modern Poetry’ by Diane Seuss
Julie Schultz of This House of Books in Billings, Montana recommends a book of poetry that made the finalist list for its category of the National Book Awards: Diane Seuss’s “Modern Poetry.”
The gut's curious history
Historian Elsa Richardson’s new book, “Rumbles,” takes us on a fascinating tour of the gut’s medical and cultural past.