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.

Ask a Bookseller: 'Less'
Melodie Edwards of Night Heron Books & Coffeehouse of Laramie, Wyo., recommends “Less” by Andrew Sean Gree, where the protagonist flees a broken heart — and travels the world — by accepting every conference and literary event invitation he can pull together.
In 'Family Lore,' award-winning YA author Elizabeth Acevedo turns to adult readers
A winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature is out with a debut novel for adults. Elizabeth Acevedo's “Family Lore” is about sisterhood and memory in a Dominican-American family.
Crime writer S.A. Cosby loves the South — and is haunted by it
Cosby's novel “All the Sinners Bleed” centers on a Black sheriff in a small Southeast Virginia county. The novel was inspired by his own experiences growing up in the shadow of the Confederacy.
In 'Shy,' a troubled teenage boy gets a last chance
Readers made Max Porter’s novel “Grief is the Thing with Feathers” a huge best-seller. His latest book, equally magical, tells the story of one wild night in the life of a disaffected boy who tries to escape from the Last Chance School.