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.

Author: How the Mall of America could become 'as toxic and uninhabitable as Chernobyl'
In his new book, "Deadliest Enemy," epidemiologist Michael Osterholm argues that we are more vulnerable to an infectious disease outbreak now than at any other time in history.
'Girl in Disguise' is a spunky spy saga
Little is known about the real life of Kate Warne, the first female detective in America, but Greer Macallister's romp of a novel paints her as a live wire, an ace in a dangerous man's world.
David Grann on the brutal crime America forgot
David Grann's new book, "Killers of the Flower Moon," tells the true story of the Osage Indian nation. Once the wealthiest people in the world, by the early 1920s, they were being killed off one by one.
Tale as old as time: The dark appeal of 'Beauty and the Beast'
Disney's new live-action extravaganza is just the latest retelling of this classic fairy tale. But why do Beauty and her Beast have such a hold on us? And why are there so many versions of their tale?