George Black
SLCL Authors @ the J and the Westfall Politics & History Series
Present Journalist George Black
Author of “The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace, and Redemption in Vietnam”
The J’s Staenberg Family Complex
Mirowitz Performing Arts Center at 2 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146
In Conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning St. Louis Post-Dispatch Columnist Tony Messenger.
Author and journalist George Black recounts the inspirational story of a small cast of characters–veterans, scientists, and Quaker-inspired pacifists, and their Vietnamese partners–who used their moral authority, scientific and political ingenuity, and sheer persistence to attempt to heal the horrors that were left in the wake of the military engagement in Southeast Asia–specifically from unexploded munitions and the use of toxic chemicals such as Agent Orange. Their intersecting story is one of reconciliation and personal redemption, embedded in a vivid portrait of Vietnam today. “The Long Reckoning” is being published on the 50th anniversary of the day the last American combat soldier left Vietnam.
Books available for purchase from Left Bank Books.
Sally Hepworth
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
Bestselling Suspense Novelist Sally Hepworth
Author of “The Soulmate”
In Conversation with Angie Weidinger, HEC Media Host
Grant’s View Branch
9700 Musick Rd, St. Louis, MO 63123
Internationally bestselling suspense author Sally Hepworth presents a thrilling novel about marriage, betrayal, and the secrets that push us to the edge. Gabe and Pippa have moved into their cliff-side dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Night after night Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge. Until he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral...Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? As the perfect facade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets are revealed.
Books available from The Novel Neighbor
Timothy Egan
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
National Book Award-Winning Author Timothy Egan
Author of “A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them”
Ethical Society of Saint. Louis
9001 Clayton Rd., St. Louis, MO 63117
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Timothy Egan presents a powerful and page-turning reckoning with one of the darkest threads in American history. The 1920s saw the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman–Madge Oberholtzer–whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.
Books available for purchase from Left Bank Books.
Dusti Bowling
St. Louis County Library Foundation’s Reading Garden Series for Young Audiences
Presents Middle Grade Author Dusti Bowling
Author of “Across the Desert”
Grand Glaize Branch
1010 Meramec Station Rd., Manchester, MO 63021
Award-winning middle grade author of “Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus,” Dusti Bowling presents a gripping story of survival, friendship, and rescue. Twelve-year-old Jolene spends every moment she can watching her favorite livestream: ‘The Desert Aviator,’ where twelve-year-old Addie Earhart shares her adventures flying an ultralight plane over the Arizona desert. Jolene dreams of what it would be like to fly with Addie, far away from her own troubled home life. Then it all goes wrong: Addie's engine abruptly stops, and Jolene watches in helpless horror as the plane plummets to the ground. Jolene knows that Addie won’t survive long in the desert. With no one to turn to for help, it's up to Jolene to find a way to save the Desert Aviator.
Books available for purchase from The Novel Neighbor.
David Grann
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
#1 Bestselling Author David Grann
Author of “The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder”
Ethical Society of Saint. Louis
9001 Clayton Rd., St. Louis, MO 63117
#1 bestselling author of "Killers of the Flower Moon," David Grann presents a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery. In 1742, a ramshackle vessel washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive. They were survivors of His Majesty’s Ship the Wager and they had an extraordinary story to tell. Six months later, another, even more decrepit craft landed on the coast of Chile. This boat contained just three castaways, and they told a very different story. As accusations of treachery and murder flew, the Admiralty convened a court martial to determine who was telling the truth. The stakes were life-and-death—for whomever the court found guilty could hang. "The Wager" is a grand tale of human behavior at the extremes told by one of our greatest nonfiction writers.
Books available for purchase from Left Bank Books.
Martha Hall Kelly
SLCL Authors @ the J and the Favorite Author Series
Present Bestselling Novelist Martha Hall Kelly
Author of “The Golden Doves”
The J’s Staenberg Family Complex
Mirowitz Performing Arts Center at 2 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146
Bestselling author of “Lilac Girls,” Martha Hall Kelly’s new historical novel centers on the fates of Nazi fugitives in the wake of World War II and the unsung female spies who risked it all to bring them to justice. While working for the French Resistance, American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue stole so many Nazi secrets that they became known as the Golden Doves, renowned across France and hunted by the Gestapo. A decade later the Doves fall headlong into a dangerous dual mission: to hunt down the infamous doctor of the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Their pursuit uncovers a web of terrible secrets.
Books available for purchase from The Novel Neighbor.
Jeneva Rose
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
Bestselling Mystery Writer Jeneva Rose
Author of “You Shouldn’t Have Come Here”
Grant’s View Branch
9700 Musick Rd, St. Louis, MO 63123
USA Today bestselling author of “The Perfect Marriage,” Jeneva Rose presents her highly-anticipated new thriller. Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for an escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives at the idyllic getaway, she’s pleased to strike up a flirtation with the handsome owner. But after learning of a missing woman, Grace begins to feel that something isn’t right with the ranch. As her departure date nears, things change for the worse. What began as a playful romance soon turns into a complicated web of lies.
Books available from The Novel Neighbor
Jonathan Losos
SLCL Authors @ the J Presents
Evolutionary Biologist
Jonathan Losos
Author of “The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa”
The J’s Staenberg Family Complex
Mirowitz Performing Arts Center at 2 Millstone Campus Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146
Washington University-Professor of Evolutionary Biology Jonathan Losos presents the past, present, and future of the world's most popular and beloved pet. The domestic cat has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful species on the planet. Losos, writing as both a scientist and a cat lover, explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat, using all the tools of modern technology. He gives us a cat’s-eye view of today’s habitats, including meeting wild cousins around the world whose habits your sweet house cat sometimes eerily parallels.
Books available for purchase from Left Bank Books.
Becky Albertalli
St. Louis County Library Foundation and the Novel Neighbor Present Bestselling Young Adult Novelist
Becky Albertalli
Author of “Imogen, Obviously”
With humor and insight, #1 bestselling young adult author Becky Albertalli explores the nuances of sexuality, identity, and friendship in this timely new novel. High School senior Imogen Scott considers herself the World’s Greatest Ally, but when she visits her friend Lilli and meets her cool new squad of queer college friends, she starts to wonder if her truth was ever all that straight to begin with.
Books available for purchase from The Novel Neighbor.
John C. McManus
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
Acclaimed Military Historian
John C. McManus
Author of “To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945”
Presented by the Westfall Politics & History Series
Ethical Society of Saint. Louis
9001 Clayton Rd., St. Louis, MO 63117
Military historian John McManus presents the final volume in his trilogy on the US Army in the Pacific War. The dawn of 1945 finds a US Army at its peak in the Pacific. Allied victory over Japan is all but assured. The only question is how many more months–or years–of fight does the enemy have left. Readers will walk in the boots of American soldiers and officers, braving intense heat, rampant disease, and a by-now suicidal enemy. At the same time, this outstanding narrative lays bare the titanic ego of the Pacific War’s most prominent general, Douglas MacArthur, and the complex challenges he faced in America’s lengthy occupation.
Books available for purchase from The Novel Neighbor.
Peter Cozzens
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
Historian Peter Cozzens
Author of “A Brutal Reckoning: Andrew Jackson, the Creek Indians, and the Epic War for the American South”
Presented by the Westfall Politics & History Series
The Creek War is one of the most tragic episodes in American history, leading to the greatest loss of Native American life on what is now U.S. soil and the infamous Trail of Tears, in which the government forcibly removed the southeastern Indians from their homeland. The war also gave Andrew Jackson his first combat leadership role, and his popularity after defeating the Creeks would set him on the path to the White House. In “A Brutal Reckoning,” acclaimed historian Peter Cozzens vividly captures the young Jackson, describing a brilliant but harsh military commander with unbridled ambition and a fraught sense of honor and duty.
Books available for purchase from Left Bank Books.
Elaine Viets
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents Suspense Author
Elaine Viets
Author of “The Dead of Night”
(Seating is limited; early arrival is recommended.)
Popular mystery author Elaine Viets returns to her hardboiled roots with her Angela Richman, Death Investigator series. Everyone in Chouteau Forest knows the legend of the Cursed Crypt. It’s claimed that the restless spirit of Mean Gene Cortini has been causing death and destruction in the Forest for almost two centuries. At the annual Howl-o-ween Benefit Auction, Trey Lawson wins the chance to spend the night in the crypt with his fiancée, Lydia. Angela Richman finds their mutilated bodies there the following morning. As Angela investigates, she learns that Trey was threatening the established hierarchy of Chouteau Forest. Has the legend taken a deadly turn, or are Trey and Lydia victims of a vicious power struggle?
Books available from The Novel Neighbor.
Soman Chainani
The St. Louis County Library and the Very Asian Foundation Present
Bestselling Young Adult Novelist
Soman Chainani
Author of “Fall of the School for Good and Evil”
In Conversation with Michelle Li, KSDK News Anchor and Founder of the Very Asian Foundation
(Seating is limited; early arrival is recommended.)
The basis for the #1 Netflix movie “The School for Good and Evil,” Soman Chainani presents the final chapter in his dazzling fantasy series about a magical school where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. “Fall of the School for Good and Evil” brings the tale of the twin School Masters to the brink of war and a shocking conclusion that will change the course of the school forever.
Books available for purchase from The Novel Neighbor.
Sandeep Jauhar
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
Sandeep Jauhar
Author of “My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadows of Alzheimer’s”
Presented by the Arthur Gale Medical Arts Lecture Series
In Partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater St. Louis
Ethical Society of Saint. Louis
9001 Clayton Rd., St. Louis, MO 63117
Almost six million Americans–about one in every ten people over the age of 65–have Alzheimer’s disease or related dementias, and this number is projected to more than double by 2050. What is it like to live with and amid this increasingly prevalent condition–an affliction that some fear more than death? In “My Father’s Brain,” the distinguished physician and author Sandeep Jauhar sets his father’s descent into Alzheimer’s alongside his own journey toward understanding this disease and how it might best be coped with, if not cured.
Books available for purchase from The Novel Neighbor.
Ticketed Event–Christina Lauren
Christina Lauren, “The True Love Experiment”
Ethical Society of St. Louis
9001 Clayton Rd. St. Louis, MO 63117
In partnership with The Novel Neighbor
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime romance writing partners Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, internationally bestselling authors of “Unhoneymooners” and “In A Holidaze.” In their hotly-anticipated new novel, sparks fly when romance novelist Felicity “Fizzy” Chen joins forces with a documentary filmmaker to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script. “The True Love Experiment” is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in the fan-favorite “The Soulmate Equation.” It turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.
INDIVIDUAL TICKET $32 (Admits ONE and includes one copy of “The True Love Experiment”)
OR
PACKAGE TICKET $38 (Admits TWO and includes one copy of “The True Love Experiment”)
Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite starting at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 20.
Books available from The Novel Neighbor.
Brooke Kroeger
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents
Historian Brooke Kroeger
Author of “Undaunted: How Women Changed American Journalism”
In Conversation with KMOX News Anchor Debbie Monterrey
Presented by the Westfall Politics & History Series
Renowned correspondent and news editor Brooke Kroeger presents an essential history of women in American journalism. From Margaret Fuller’s improbable success to the breakthrough investigative triumphs of Nellie Bly, Ida Tarbell, and Ida B. Wells, Brooke Kroeger examines the lives of the best-remembered and long-forgotten woman journalists. She explores the careers of standout woman reporters who covered the major news stories and every conflict at home and abroad since before the Civil War, and she celebrates those exceptional careers up to the present, including those of Martha Gellhorn, Rachel Carson, Joan Didion, Cokie Roberts, and Charlayne Hunter-Gault. "Undaunted" is a representative history of the American women who surmounted every impediment put in their way to do journalism’s most valued work.
Books available for purchase from The Novel Neighbor.
John C. Guenther
The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents Architect and Historian
John C. Guenther
Author of “The Gateway Arch: An Illustrated Timeline”
(Seating is limited; early arrival is recommended.)
An icon of structural expressionism, the Gateway Arch expresses both a timeless monumentality and a contemporary dynamism. The story of how this monument came to be is remarkable. John Guenther, architect and historian, takes readers through the key events which led to the building of the Gateway Arch, assisted by historic images. “The Gateway Arch: An Illustrated Timeline” explores the planning, growth, and evolution of St. Louis and its riverfront. It reveals the vision, persistence, and collaboration on the part of many, as the design and realization of the Gateway Arch continues to evolve over time.
Books available for purchase at the event.
Ticketed Event–Christina Lauren
Christina Lauren, “The True Love Experiment”
Ethical Society of St. Louis
9001 Clayton Rd. St. Louis, MO 63117
In partnership with The Novel Neighbor
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime romance writing partners Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, internationally bestselling authors of “Unhoneymooners” and “In A Holidaze.” In their hotly-anticipated new novel, sparks fly when romance novelist Felicity “Fizzy” Chen joins forces with a documentary filmmaker to craft the perfect Hollywood love story and take both of their careers to the next level—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script. “The True Love Experiment” is the book fans have been waiting for ever since Fizzy’s debut in the fan-favorite “The Soulmate Equation.” It turns out the happily ever after Fizzy had all but given up on might lie just behind the camera.
INDIVIDUAL TICKET $32 (Admits ONE and includes one copy of “The True Love Experiment”)
OR
PACKAGE TICKET $38 (Admits TWO and includes one copy of “The True Love Experiment”)
Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite starting at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, March 20.
Books available from The Novel Neighbor.