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.

'Truevine' tells the tale of 2 black albino brothers forced to work for the circus
For years, black children around Roanoke, Va., heard the cautionary tale of Willie and George Muse, African-American albino brothers who were kidnapped and forced to perform in a series of circuses.
A history of the small but mighty Dinkytown neighborhood
It's just four blocks, nestled next to the University of Minnesota and the Mississippi River, but Dinkytown has been a center of Minneapolis' political, intellectual and cultural life for a century.
'Body of Water': What fishing teaches us about being human
Chris Dombrowski's two great passions are fishing and poetry. His new book explores the life of a legendary bonefishing guide in the Bahamas, and the wisdom the man has earned from his time at sea.