The Thread® - Books and Literary 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.

June 12, 2019 3:29 PM

A very happy 50th birthday to 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'

Will author and artist Eric Carle's famously peckish creation be munching his way through some birthday cake? (Along with the salami, the pickle, the watermelon and the slice of Swiss cheese.)

by Neda Ulaby

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 12, 2019 12:00 AM

'One Giant Leap' explores the Herculean effort behind the 1969 moon landing

Fifty years after Apollo 11's historic moon landing, journalist Charles Fishman tells the story of the 410,000 men and women who helped make the mission a success.

by Dave Davies

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 12, 2019 12:00 AM

'Unraveling' sings a cohesive, unsettling song

Brian Evenson's new collection brings together stories that have appeared in literary fiction, speculative fiction and horror publications -- and yet they flow together into a disturbing whole.

by Gabino Iglesias

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 12, 2019 12:00 AM

Intelligence Squared: Should you love your enemies?

Think about your most deeply held political belief. Could you love someone who adamantly and passionately disagreed with it? In this special episode, host John Donvan sits down with Arthur Brooks, one of America's leading political thinkers, to discuss a bold premise: loving your enemies.

by MPR News Staff

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 11, 2019 12:00 AM

Former 'Teen Vogue' editor shares her memoir -- and her manifesto

Elaine Welteroth became the first black beauty director at a Conde Nast magazine. Then she oversaw its political transformation.

by Noel King

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 11, 2019 12:00 AM

Can a chicken recipe change your life?

Ella Risbridger was suicidally depressed when she roasted a chicken and ended up writing an uplifting, genre-bending cookbook that reads like a magical mix of memoir, novel and self-help book.

by Jean Fain

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 11, 2019 12:00 AM

'The Great Successor' aims to fill in blanks on the life of North Korea's Kim Jong Un

Contrary to prevailing stereotypes, in Anna Fifield's reported story Kim is anything but a madman -- cold-blooded, for sure, but playing a calculated defensive strategy aimed at standing up his rule.

by Scott Neuman

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 11, 2019 12:00 AM

Jurors generate drama of their own in smart, disturbing 'Body in Question'

Jill Ciment's new novel follows a group of bored, drowsy, horny jurors who are sequestered together as they serve on a gruesome murder case in Central Florida.

by Maureen Corrigan

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 9, 2019 12:00 AM

In 'Ayesha at Last,' a take on Austen that's sparky and sensitive

There have been an awful lot of South Asian adaptations of 'Pride and Prejudice' recently, but Uzma Jalaluddin's tale of two Toronto Muslims -- one conservative, one liberal -- stands out beautifully.

by Kamrun Nesa

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.

June 8, 2019 12:45 PM

In Scotland's Outer Hebrides, mobile libraries are a lifeline

Library vans ply lonely roads and deliver books, including works in Gaelic, to hundreds of isolated residents. Seeing the mobile librarian is sometimes the only human contact they will have for days.

by Celeste Noche

Go Deeper.

Create an account or log in to save stories.

Like this?

Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.