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.

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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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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.

‘Brotherless Night,’ an ambitious novel by a University of Minnesota professor, wins $150K prize
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction is a relatively new literary award given to women and nonbinary authors. This year’s winner is University of Minnesota professor V.V. Ganeshananthan for her book “Brotherless Night.”
‘The best season yet’: Timberwolves fan and author on finding hope in the recent losses
The last two Timberwolves games brought back an all too familiar feeling for Minnesota sports fans. Author and fan Hanif Abdurraqib talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about why he thinks the Timberwolves may still have a shot.
‘I did not feel like a human’: Brittney Griner tells NPR about detention in Russia
Griner's new memoir recounts being humiliated by guards, of the pain from squeezing her 6-foot-9 frame into cramped beds and cage, and cutting her locs because it was so cold that her hair froze.