Atlanta’s own Karin Slaughter The New York Times’ and #1 international bestselling author of ten thrillers, talked about her latest spellbinding book, Broken. It’s not just the page-turning plotting and unexpected twists that make Karin’s books so popular, but also the vivid portraits of real lives in stress, people shadowed by loss and heartbreak that keep readers by the tens of thousands coming back for more. In Broken, a Grant County novel, Special Agent Will Trent arrives to look into a prisoner’s death and encounters a police department beset with murder. Karin’s bestselling books, which have sold millions of copies here and abroad, include Blindsighted, A Faint Cold Fear and Beyond Reach, which was on an earlier list of “25 Books All Georgians Should Read.”

In addition to being a bestselling author, Karin Slaughter is also an advocate for libraries, as is evident from the first few minutes of this podcast, and a supporter of savethelibraries.com. Though she will not be at this year’s A Mysterious Evening event on March 24, other mystery writers will be present, including Grant Jerkins, William Rawlings, Patricia Sprinkle and Amanda Kyle Williams. Tickets are $65 online or $75 at door, and the event benefits DeKalb County Public Library.

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2. Anne Lamott
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Deborah Blum is the Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer of a new book, The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York. Blum’s true story, which reads like a first-rate novelist’s tale, features a memorable cast of movie stars, gangsters, aristocrats, relentless medical examiners and even homicidal grandmothers. Her chronicle of Jazz Age chemical crimes will leave you breathless and transform the way you think about the power of science. Blum is the author of the bestselling book Ghost Hunters. She is also professor of science journalism at the University of Wisconsin.

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Related posts:

1. Thomas Cahill
2. R. A. Salvatore
3. E. Lynn Harris

Kevin Young is one of America’s most acclaimed young poets, and he talked with us about the new volume of poetry that he edited called The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing. Young is the author of several notable books of poetry including For the Confederate Dead, Jelly Roll, Most Way Home and Black Maria. He was also joined by the poet Natasha Trethewey, who also contributed to the new volume. Trethewey is the author of Domestic Work, Bellocq’s Ophelia, and Native Guard, for which she was awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

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Related posts:

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2. Coleman Barks
3. Gordon S. Wood

Set in West Virginia, Jayne Anne Phillips’ National Book Award-nominated Lark & Termite is her first book in nine years. Set during the 1950s in West Virginia and Korea, it is a story of the power of loss and love, the echoing ramifications of war, family secrets, dreams and ghosts, and the unseen, almost magical bonds that unite and sustain us. Phillips is the award-winning author of Motherkind and Shelter.

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Related posts:

1. Anne Lamott
2. Wendell Potter
3. Stephanie Kallos

Gordon S. Wood is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and one of America’s most distinguished historians of early America.  He joined us on November 9, 2009 to discuss his new book, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815. It’s the latest in the acclaimed “Oxford History of the United States” series that aims to take a definitive look at what we know about the first quarter-century of our nation’s history under the Constitution. Critics are calling it “a triumph of the historian’s art.”

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Related posts:

1. Wil Haygood Discusses Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Stephanie Kallos
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Philip Lee Williams is one of Georgia’s finest authors and winner of the Michael Shaara Award for his Civil War novel A Distant Flame. He returns with an exciting, new Civil War story, The Campfire Boys. Williams is a novelist, poet and essayist whose books include The Heart of a Distant Forest and Crossing Wildcat Ridge, and he also is represented on the Georgia Center for the Book’s list of “25 Books All Georgians Should Read.” This appearance by Mr. Williams was even more special because it was held as an onstage conversation with his friend and fellow author Terry Kay. We’re pleased to present to you the wonderful conversation between Phillip Lee Williams and Terry Kay, recorded on November 2, 2009.

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Related posts:

1. Amanda C. Gable
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ConunDrums is a community of diverse women drawn together by a combination of fate, chance, intention and the call of the drum. Through their performances, they offer audiences an opportunity to connect with their own authentic selves. Armed with drums, songs, stories and dance, ConunDrums invites the audience to grab a shaker or shake their booties and share in the joy that has come into each of their lives through the drumming community.

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Wil Haygood is the author of a riveting new biography, Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson, one of the greatest boxers in history. Haygood’s book is “a biography worthy of a great athlete and an important social force,” vividly detailing the often controversial life in and out of the ring of the legendary Sugar Ray, who was born in rural Georgia. His story weaves in some of the major figures in 20th century American history, including Langston Hughes, Miles Davis and Lena Horne. Haygood previously has written acclaimed biographies of Adam Clayton Powell and Sammy Davis, Jr.

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Related posts:

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The Gypsy Hicks (Mick Kinney, Evan Kinney, Kirk McAlpin, Moses Nelligan) play 1930s swing in the style of the Hot Club of Paris, made famous by legendary guitarist Django Reinhart. With violin, accordion, banjo and guitars, the Gypsy Hicks recreate the sound of French bistros and cabarets where this blend of musette, gitane and “le jazz hot” originated. True to their name, the trio sifts in a dash of roots americana such as ragtime, blues, and novelty songs.

The Gypsy Hicks were also joined by special guest Elise Witt.  Elise Witt is “a performer to remember with international savvy and personal charm.” She speaks five languages fluently, sings in over a dozen more, and has been a cultural ambassador to South Africa, Italy, Nicaragua, Switzerland and China. Her concerts take listeners on a glorious and rollicking journey, visiting lands of gypsy jazz, smoky cabarets, and funky swing, as well as a cappella vocalizing and poignant ballads.

The Gypsy Hicks and Elise Witt played at the Decatur Library on October 22, 2009.

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Related posts:

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In 2009, Wendell Potter made headlines all over the country when he testified before Congress that many in the health insurance business are corrupt and are dedicated to denying benefits to consumers while spending billions on lobbying to protect their interests. Now Potter, former executive with CIGNA, has written a powerful book about his experience, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans. It’s a “must” program that explains how health insurers have consistently put profits ahead of patient care. Senator Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia says Potter’s book and the story of his conversion from a health care executive to outspoken advocate of reform “is essential reading for anyone trying to understand how the system really works.” We urge you to join us for this program and discussion.

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Related posts:

1. Robyn O’Brien
2. Kathryn Stockett
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