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.

Paula Poundstone's 'Totally Unscientific' search for the secret of happiness
Paula Poundstone had a great idea: Try fun stuff and get a publishing company to pay for it in the name of science. The result? 'The Totally Unscientific Study of the Search for Human Happiness.'
With book, Ivanka Trump must walk complicated ethical line
While Trump has opted to donate proceeds to charity and avoid a publicity tour, the book has generated a rash of media coverage -- and some fresh questions about whether she could profit from her rising profile,
'I belonged nowhere': A story of displacement, from a novelist who knows
'Salt Houses' traces several generations of a displaced Palestinian family. Author Hala Alyan says she experienced firsthand the 'intergenerational trauma that went along with losing a homeland.'