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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.

How civil wars start and why it could happen again in America

How civil wars start and why it could happen again in America

A contemporary civil war in America wouldn’t much resemble the last one, says political scientist Barbara F. Walter in her new book. But it could happen again — and if you’re skeptical about that, she believes you suffer from a lack of imagination that puts the country at risk.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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When facing loss, embrace change and don't force closure, a therapist urges

When facing loss, embrace change and don't force closure, a therapist urges

Over the last two years, many have experienced a kind of ambiguous loss as we have lived with isolation and uncertainty in the pandemic. Author and therapist Pauline Boss explains how to move forward.
by Graison Dangor

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The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

The global supply chain is amazingly efficient. So why did it break down?

"Americans went on a shopping spree as soon as lockdown started, and we haven't really stopped," journalist Christopher Mims says. His book, “Arriving Today,” goes inside the global supply chain.
by Dave Davies

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In 'The Maid,' a devoted hotel cleaning lady is a prime murder suspect

In 'The Maid,' a devoted hotel cleaning lady is a prime murder suspect

In Nita Prose's debut, a guest at a fancy urban hotel lies dead and the main suspect is Molly Gray, a devoted member of the cleaning staff who recognizes she has "trouble with social situations."
by Bethanne Patrick

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An 86-year-old organist who fled the Nazis writes his story for the first time

An 86-year-old organist who fled the Nazis writes his story for the first time

Gerrit Lamain is an 86-year-old Dutch immigrant in Rosemount, Minn., who is sharing his stories — some of them for the first time — in a collection of essays about his life called “Gerrit’s Notes.” Lamain and his daughter, Carla Laetham, joined host Cathy Wurzer to talk about the project.
by Cathy Wurzer and Melissa Townsend

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After his son's suicide and the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jamie Raskin is not giving up

After his son's suicide and the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jamie Raskin is not giving up

Raskin's son died just days before the Capitol insurrection. Now Raskin serves on the House select committee charged with investigating the Jan. 6 attack. His new memoir is “Unthinkable.”
by Terry Gross

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The best books of 2021 from three authors who also own bookstores

The best books of 2021 from three authors who also own bookstores

For our final Big Books and Bold Ideas show of the year, host Kerri Miller talks with three writers who also own bookstores and invites them to share the titles from 2021 they loved and were most eager to put in readers’ hands.
by Kerri Miller and Kelly Gordon

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The story of marriage equality is more complicated — and costly — than you remember

The story of marriage equality is more complicated — and costly — than you remember

Sasha Issenberg, author of “The Engagement,” a history of marriage equality, says he doesn't see the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges being overturned anytime soon.
by Danielle Kurtzleben

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