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.

‘Anita de Monte Laughs Last’ is a complex dissection of art, gender and marriage
Xochitl Gonzalez’s novel looking at relationship power dynamics is a thought-provoking and brilliantly entertaining triumph that surpasses the promise of her popular debut “Olga Dies Dreaming.”
A prescription to modernize public health
The pandemic was a crucible for public health. What are the key takeaways? Epidemiologist Dr. Sandro Galea offers his diagnosis and a prescription for public health going forward in his new book, “Within Reason: A Liberal Public Health for an Illiberal Time.”
New book tells untold story of Eliza Winston, an enslaved woman’s battle for freedom in Minnesota
St. Cloud State University Professor Christopher P. Lehman shares the struggle for freedom of Eliza Winston, who escaped her captors in 1860 while traveling with them in the free state of Minnesota.
Sloane Crosley mourns her best friend in ‘Grief Is for People’
Russell Perreault hired Crosley when she was 25 and the two became very close. He died by suicide in 2019. Her first full-length book of nonfiction is a noteworthy addition to the literature of grief.
Graywolf Press celebrates 50 years of publishing wild literature 
Graywolf Press, a notable independent publisher based in Minneapolis, is celebrating its 50th anniversary, marking a significant milestone for the small but influential nonprofit organization.
Kao Kalia Yang writes about finding her voice and her mother's journey in two new books
Kao Kalia Yang is releasing two new books in March: “The Rock in My Throat” about her childhood and “Where Rivers Part” about her mother’s life.
Tommy Orange’s ‘Wandering Stars’ is a powerful follow up to ‘There There’
An eloquent indictment of the effects of the massacre, dislocation and forced assimilation of Native Americans, it is also a heartfelt paean to the importance of family and of ancestors’ stories.