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.

Ecologist Suzanne Simard on understanding the wisdom of forests
Ecologist Suzanne Simard talked with host Kerri Miller about her new book “Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest” and what humans can learn from the way trees cooperate and communicate with other plants.
Yes, there are crimes — and much more — in 'The Thousand Crimes Of Ming Tsu'
Tom Lin's new novel promises — and delivers — lots of crimes in a cinematic Western starring a Chinese American gunslinger on a mission of revenge against the men who sent him to work the railroads.
Mapping a path forward for the Asian diaspora in 'Imagine Us, The Swarm'
In her latest collection, Chinese American poet Muriel Leung considers what it means to assimilate, and ultimately heal, against the collective memory of grief and vulnerability.
Slavery wasn't 'long ago': A writer exposes the disconnect in how we tell history
In “How the Word is Passed,” Clint Smith visits eight places central to the history of slavery in America, including Thomas Jefferson's Monticello plantation and Louisiana's Angola prison.
What's in a genre name? The trouble with 'Asian fantasy'
Asian fantasy has been increasingly popular over the past few years, but some authors shelved in that category are wondering whether it's really a useful way of describing a vast and varied subgenre.
A few 'take to the lake' crime novels
Kerri Miller is here just in time for the official start of the summer with a bunch of “take it to the lake” crime novels & thrillers that you can find in your local library.