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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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.

James Patterson plans to write 'The Murder of Stephen King,'  then cancels it
James Patterson pitched a book in which Stephen King is stalked by characters from his own novels, like "It," "The Shining" and "Misery." But just a week after announcing it, Patterson said he would not release it.
'Hidden Figures': How black women did the math that put men on the moon
Back in the days of the Space Race, "computers" were people -- often women -- who performed vital calculations. "Hidden Figures" tells the stories of the women who got some of the first men to space.
19 books to read this fall
This fall's reading list is packed with new perspectives on U.S. history, a fresh reinvention of Sherlock Holmes and book that asks: Why is Tetris so addictive?
Ask a bookseller: Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City
Jean Ann Robison has been selling books for more than 20 years, and this month she's excited about a biography of Winston Churchill's early years, which reads like something out of "Indiana Jones," she said.
'Darktown' imagines what it was like for Atlanta's first black policemen
In 1948, eight African-American men joined Atlanta's police force. Those pioneer officers -- who couldn't drive squad cars or even step foot in headquarters -- inspired Thomas Mullen's new novel.