The spring lineup for Club Book, the free author series that brings great writers to libraries in the suburbs and elsewhere outside of the central cities, has been announced. Gish Jen, Laila Lalami, and Minnesota writer Benjamin Percy are among the featured writers. Here's the full lineup:
Gish Jen
Ramsey County Library – New Brighton | 400 10th St. NW, New Brighton
6:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 4
Gish Jen is a second generation Chinese American, and a thoughtful chronicler of emigration, assimilation, and multiculturalism as they relate to the modern American experience. The Los Angeles Times said of her 1991 debut, Typical American: "Jen has done much more than tell an immigrant story… She has done it in some ways better than it has ever been done before." Jen's eighth and latest book, The Resisters, is set in a dystopian future ravaged by climate change.
Brad Taylor
Scott County Library – Prior Lake| 16210 Eagle Creek Ave. SE, Prior Lake
7:00-8:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 10
Brad Taylor is the pen behind the New York Times bestselling Pike Logan series. Taylor served more than two decades in the U.S. Army, in both the Infantry and Special Forces divisions, including a stint with the clandestine Delta Force.
Laila Lalami
Hennepin County Library – Minneapolis Central| 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis
7:00-8:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 24
Moroccan American novelist Laila Lalami uses fiction as a vehicle to showcase "overlooked" North African stories and experiences. Her work spans the historical and the contemporary. Notable examples include her 2014 breakout The Moor's Account, which won the American Book Award, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Lalami's follow-up, The Other Americans, was one of the most anticipated releases of 2019.
James Rollins
Washington County Library – R.H. Stafford| 8595 Central Park Pl., Woodbury
6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26
Over the past three decades, James Rollins has published six standalone thrillers, two volumes in the popular Jake Ransom middle grade series, and the novelization of the 2008 Steven Spielberg film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Under the pen name James Clemens, Rollins has also written not one but two high fantasy arcs – The Banned and the Banished, and the ongoing Godslayer series. However, Rollins is best known for his #1 New York Times bestselling Sigma Force series. In the Sigma Force's latest adventure, The Last Odyssey, the team questions everything they thought they knew about the (supposedly mythological) Trojan War and epic poetry of Homer.
Dahr Jamail
Metropolitan State University Library & Learning Center* | 645 E. 7th St., St. Paul
7:00-8:00 p.m., Thursday, April 9
*co-hosted with Saint Paul Public Library
Acclaimed journalist and climate advocate Dahr Jamail is the author of The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption. Part travelogue and part research exposé, The End of Ice offers a sobering look at the "geographic front lines" – areas of the planet that are most immediately and visibly impacted by global warming.
Kate Quinn
Dakota County Library – Galaxie | 14955 Galaxie Ave., Apple Valley
7:00-8:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 22
Kate Quinn is one of the best known – and bestselling – authors writing today in the realm of historical fiction. Standouts include the Empress of Rome series. Quinn also wrote two novels set during the Renaissance and a co-authored standalone that focuses on the lives of women during and in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Recently, Quinn has brought her "compelling blend of historical fiction, mystery, and women's fiction" (Library Journal) to the two World Wars. Based on a true story, 2017's The Alice Network focuses on a French and female-driven espionage ring in the Great War. Actress Reese Witherspoon selected it for her popular Reese's Book Club. Quinn's follow up, The Huntress, explores the tumultuous period in Europe immediately following World War II.
Christopher Ingraham
Carver County Library – Chanhassen | 7711 Kerber Blvd., Chanhassen
6:30-7:30 p.m., Monday, April 27
Four years ago, Washington Post reporter Chris Ingraham found himself at the center of a social media firestorm. An analyst by training, Ingraham had drawn up a comprehensive ranking of the most (and least) scenic and livable places in the United States. His findings saddled Red Lake Falls with the dubious title of Worst Place to Live. Outcry from dissenting Minnesotans surprised the author, as did an earnest invitation to visit Red Lake Falls and see for himself. This field trip set Ingraham down an improbable path that would eventually lead the journalist to relocate his family to the Red Lake area. Ingraham chronicles this journey of discovery, and self-discovery, in his new book If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now.
Benjamin Percy
Anoka County Library – Northtown | 711 County Road 10 NE, Blaine, MN, 55434
7:00-8:00 p.m., Monday, May 4
Minnesota's own Benjamin Percy is a master of many genres. Comic book fans may know him best as a favored storyteller for DC and Marvel heavyweights like X-Men and the superhero Teen Titans. He also holds the singular distinction of writing and developing Marvel's first-ever scripted podcast – a ten-episode murder mystery audio drama featuring X-Men's Wolverine. Percy has also written four genre-defying novels, including most recently Indie Next Pick and Minnesota Book Award finalist The Dark Net. Percy has two Pushcart Prizes to his name, as well as the prestigious Plimpton Prize. His latest include Thrill Me: Essays on Fiction and the spine-tinging 2019 short story collection Suicide Woods.
