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.

Sign Up for The Thread® Newsletter

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.

Talking Volumes: Alice Hoffman on ’When We Flew Away’
Novelist Alice Hoffman’s new middle grade book, “When We Flew Away,” imagines Anne Frank’s life before her family was forced into hiding. She joined MPR News host Kerri Miller on stage for Talking Volumes to talk about the emotional arc of re-creating Frank’s too-short life.
Investigation reveals widespread corruption in Korean adoption system
Sara Docan-Morgan is the author of, “In Reunion: Transnational Korean Adoptees and the Communication of Family.” She spoke with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about it.
New cookbook from Minnesota support group merges grief and food
“Good Grief! What’s for Dinner?” is a collection of more than 200 recipes curated by the Grief Club of Minnesota. Annie Sperling helped put together the cookbook with her widow group at the Grief Club. She talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about it.
‘We’re still here’: A new book explores how a small-town murder led to the restoration of Indigenous land
Cherokee author Rebecca Nagle stops in Minneapolis along her book tour for her newly released “By the Fire We Carry: The Generations Long Fight for Justice on Native Land.”
‘Intermezzo’ is Sally Rooney’s most moving novel yet
Rooney’s fourth novel is a story about learning to accept loss. And though it has its share of grief and strife, it’s happier and less disturbing than “Normal People” and “Beautiful World, Where Are You.”
A light-hearted murder mystery weekend turns deadly in Kate Atkinson’s cozy thriller
“Death at the Sign of the Rook” is an expansive novel that pokes fun of baroque, classic murder mysteries — but also delivers a fully satisfying, all-the-pieces-click-together ending.
Talking Volumes: Edwidge Danticat on ‘We’re Alone’
The 25th season of Talking Volumes kicked off with Haitian-born writer Edwidge Danticat, who joined host Kerri Miller on the stage of the Fitzgerald Theater to talk about her new book of essays, “We’re Alone.”
Minnesota Now and Then: A Minnesotan Broadway performer’s stardom was limited by the Red Scare
If you were a devoted theater fan in 1940s Minneapolis, you would have come across a rising star named Hilda Simms. Simms went on to lead on Broadway and in Hollywood. But like many performers of her generation, the Red Scare limited her rising stardom.
Voicing Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota: A collaboration between author Larry Millett and actor Steve Hendrickson
Actor Steve Hendrickson brings Larry Millett’s Minnesota Mystery series to life through audiobook narration, enhancing the stories' reach and character depth.