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.

‘Worry’ is a disturbing and honest picture of what it’s like to be in your 20s
Alexandra Tanner’s debut novel, “Worry,” centers two sisters in their 20s struggling with the love, anxieties and truths that they hold about each other.
‘Always truth in their story’: How one author talks across political divides
Author Mónica Guzmán says she’s the proud, liberal daughter of conservative parents. She wrote a book about how she navigates challenging political discussions — and how the rest of us can use the same techniques to preserve important relationships. 
Ask a Bookseller: ‘There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension’
Donna Garban of Little City Books in Hoboken, N.J., recommends a memoir that’s perfect for March Madness. It’s called “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension” by Hanif Abdurraqib.
‘The Tree Doctor’ chronicles one woman’s response to a series of life-changing crises
Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s latest novel about a wife and mother is wise and sensitive, and a stunning reflection on how we reinvent ourselves when we’re left with no other choice.
Christine Blasey Ford aims to own her story with ‘One Way Back’
In an interview with NPR, Ford says it was only a couple of years ago that she felt ready to revisit how her life was upended by Brett Kavanaugh's rise to a position on the U.S. Supreme Court.