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.

'I'm not a hit man,' Michael Wolff tells NPR about his controversial Trump book
President Trump's lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to the publisher, but the book went on sale days ahead of schedule. The White House has pushed back on the criticism in the book.
The self-published book, "Free Birds," takes place in India in the 1750s, where the caste system divides people into social categories. It follows a young girl named Navya who is born into an upper rank.
A is for appreciation: How Sue Grafton helped transform the mystery genre
Grafton revolutionized what had become fossilized formula fiction. She tossed out the genre's sexist, racist and nativist cliches and helped make the detective novel matter again.
That time you fell in love with a mutant potato
Rot is a super confident and very friendly mutant potato who is bound and determined to win "The Cutest in the World" contest. Bookseller Moira Koskey said Rot's story is one of her favorite picture books of the year.