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.

From the archives: Author Dina Nayeri on breaking down refugee stereotypes
Dina Nayeri fled the Iran revolution with her family when she was 8. We’re revisiting Nayeri’s 2019 book, "The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You,” and the conversation host Kerri Miller had with her about it in February 2020.
Ask a Bookseller: 'Civilizations' imagines a Europe colonized by Incas and Aztecs
Sarah Brown of Zenith Bookstore in Duluth has a revisionist history to recommend. "Civilizations: a Novel," by Laurent Binet, asks: What if colonizers had traveled to Europe rather than the other way around?
Marlon James on the power of witches and women
Marlon James discusses the much-anticipated second novel in his “Dark Sky” trilogy with host Kerri Miller. They talk about the power of witches, the shape-shifting nature of truth and how James learned to write women.
'Very Funny Ladies' sketches out the history of women cartoonists at 'The New Yorker'
Liza Donnelly has had a long career writing and drawing cartoons for The New Yorker. In her latest book, she continues her examination of the history of women cartoonists and the storied magazine.
The world's insect population is in decline — and that's bad news for humans
Environmental writer Oliver Milman says habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are killing off insects worldwide, which, in turn, threatens humans. His new book is “The Insect Crisis.”