Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series will present Gillian Flynn, author of the runaway bestseller Gone Girl, on Friday, June 14, at 7 p.m.

 The event—which is free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries. Organizers have requested that patrons register for the events they intend to attend by visiting http://bit.ly/OutLoud or calling one of the metro libraries.

Flynn’s 2006 debut novel, the literary mystery Sharp Objects, was an Edgar Award finalist and the winner of two of Britain’s Dagger Awards—the first book ever to win multiple Daggers in one year.

Flynn’s second novel, the 2009 New York Times bestseller Dark Places, was a New Yorker Reviewers’ Favorite, Weekend Today Top Summer Read, Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009, and Chicago Tribune Favorite Fiction choice.
But 2012’s Gone Girl has taken Flynn’s career to new heights. A consistent top ten bestseller since its release, the novel is a thriller centered on a marriage gone horribly awry. The book appeared on many best-of lists for 2012 and was an Edgar Award nominee.

Following her presentation, Flynn will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of her work available for purchase.

All attendees can enter to win one a Nook HD+ and three e-books by Flynn.

The Out Loud! Author Series will wrap up its 2013 edition on June 28 with Edgar Award winner Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River, Live by Night, and many other titles.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

This year’s edition of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series gets underway on Friday, June 7 at 7 p.m. with Ann Patchett, an alumna of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a bestselling author of both fiction and nonfiction.

The event—which is free and open to the public with no tickets required—will take place in the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries. Organizers have requested that patrons register for the events they intend to attend by visiting http://bit.ly/OutLoud or calling one of the metro libraries.

Patchett is the author of six novels, including the New York Times
bestselling Run; The Patron Saint of Liars, which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year; Taft, which won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize; The Magician’s Assistant; and Bel Canto, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Orange Prize, the BookSense Book of the Year, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her most recent novel, State of Wonder, was called “a spellbinder…even better than Patchett’s breakthrough Bel Canto,” in a starred review by Kirkus Reviews.

She is also the author of two works of nonfiction: the New York Times bestselling Truth & Beauty and What Now? Patchett has written for many publications, including the Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Magazine, Gourmet, the New York Times, Vogue, and the Washington Post.

Patchett lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where in late 2011 she and partner opened Parnassus Books, an independent bookstore. Her commitment to ensuring that Nashville had a high-quality bookstore in an era when brick and mortar stores often struggle led to her being named one of “The World’s 100 Most Influential People” by Time in 2012.

Following her presentation, Patchett will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of her work available for purchase.

All attendees can enter to win a Nook HD+ and three e-books by Patchett.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present two additional authors in 2013 including Gillian Flynn, author of the runaway bestseller Gone Girl (June 14), and 2013 Edgar Award winner Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River, Live by Night, and many other titles (June 28).

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series, as well as information about the Linn Area Reads program, is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series will present three of the most famous names in fiction this June. The collaborative program of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries will present Ann Patchett, Gillian Flynn, and Dennis Lehane in free events at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center.

Patchett, an alumna of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, will open this year’s series on Friday, June 7 at 7 p.m. Patchett is the author of five novels including State of Wonder, Run, and Bel Canto, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Orange Prize, the BookSense Book of the Year, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is also the author of two nonfiction books, including the memoir Truth & Beauty, which recounts her friendship with fellow author Lucy Grealy. In 2012, she was named one of Time magazine’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People,” in part due to her highly publicized decision to open an independent bookstore—Parnassus Books—in Nashville, Tenn., bucking trends in the book business.

Flynn, author of the runaway bestseller Gone Girl, will appear on Friday, June 14 at 7 p.m. She is also the author of Sharp Objects and Dark Places, two acclaimed thrillers. But Gone Girl, which topped the bestseller list in 2012 and has remained in the top 10, elevated her career to a new level. Reese Witherspoon is producing the movie adaptation of the novel, which is a taut he-said-she-said tale of a marriage gone horribly awry.

Lehane, one of the biggest names in the mystery genre, will close out the series on Friday, June 28 at 7 p.m. Lehane is known for his series featuring Boston private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Genaro, as well as for standalone novels including Shutter Island, Mystic River, and Gone Baby Gone, each of which has been made into a major motion picture. His most recent bestseller is 2012’s Live by Night.

While no tickets are required, series organizers are requesting preregistration for this year’s events. To register, visit http://bit.ly/OutLoud and navigate to the event dates. Alternately, patrons may contact any of the Metro Libraries or send an email to outloudauthorseries@hotmail.com.

All Out Loud! authors will take questions from the audience and sign books following their presentations.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from the Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

The final event of the 2012 edition of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series will feature bestselling science writer Sam Kean.  The presentation, which is free and open to the public with no tickets required, will take place on Friday, July 13, at 7 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center.

The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Kean is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Disappearing Spoon—an anecdotal investigation into the periodic table of elements—which was also a runner-up for the Royal Society’s book of the year for 2011. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Mental Floss, Slate, and New Scientist, and has been featured on NPR’s Radiolab and All Things Considered.

His newest book, The Violinist’s Thumb: And Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code, brings humor and insight, as well as quirky and intriguing stories, to an investigation of our DNA. Structured so that each chapter is the answer to a single question, the book starts in the microbial past and culminates in the emergence of modern human beings with an eye on the uncertainties of the future.

The Out Loud! Author Series has partnered with the Iowa City Book Festival to present Kean, who will also appear at the festival on Saturday, July 14. More information about the Iowa City Book Festival can be found at www.iowacitybookfestival.org.

Kean’s Out Loud! presentation will also include a drawing for three $50 Barnes & Noble gift cards for attendees as well as a drawing for two NookColor e-readers. Everyone who has entered at any Out Loud! event this year is eligible to win one of the e-readers.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series can be found at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud. Kean’s web site can be found at www.samkean.com.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author series will present bestselling thriller writer James Rollins on Sunday, July 1, at 1 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center.

The event is free and open to the public with no tickets required. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Rollins’ international thrillers have been translated into more than 40 languages. His Sigma series and other novels blend scientific breakthrough with historical secrets. Rollins has published at least one novel each year since 1999.

His newest novel, Bloodline, finds Sigma Force engaged in a rescue mission that raises issues grounded in the secrets of the human genetic code. The team finds itself faced with two questions: Is it possible to live forever, and would you want to?

The Out Loud! Author Series will present one additional author in 2012—science writer Sam Kean on Friday, July 13, at 7 p.m.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers. The James Rollins program is a Freedom Festival affiliate event, and attendees who wear their Freedom Festival button will receive an extra entry in the drawing for $50 Barnes & Noble gift certificates on the day of the event and the drawing for a NookColor e-reader at the end of the season.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series can be found at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud. Rollins’ web site can be found at www.jamesrollins.com.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author series will present Wendy Delsol, author of the “Stork” trilogy for young adults, on Thursday, June 21 at 7 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center.

The event is free and open to the public with no tickets required. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Delsol’s trilogy follows the adventures of Katla, an L.A. teen transplanted to Minnesota who discovers she has ties to a mysterious group of women who have the ability to place souls on earth. The series is grounded in Norse mythology as well as Icelandic folklore and Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” Stork was published in 2010 and received the Westchester Fiction Award. Frost was published in 2011, while Flock will be published this fall.

Delsol, who lives in the Des Moines area, is also the author of The McCloud Home for Wayward Girl, which was a Barnes & Noble Pick of the Week in August 2011.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present two additional authors in 2012 including bestselling thriller writer James Rollins (July 1), and science writer Sam Kean (July 13).

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series can be found at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud. Delsol’s web site can be found at www.wendydelsol.com.

A. David Lewis will discuss the role of religion and the religious in comics and graphic novels on Friday, June 8 at 7 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. The presentation is part of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series.

The event is free and open to the public with no tickets required. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

During his event, Lewis will discuss Graven Images: Religion in Comic Books and Graphic Novels, which he co-edited and in which his essay centered on Superman appears. Other essays in the book consider the work of comics creators such as Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Grant Morrison. Lewis is the author of comics with religious themes including The Lone and Level Sands, Mortal Coils, and Some New Kind of Slaughter.

In support of his visit, Lewis has sent 24 comics images that have been divided into four mini-exhibitions on display at the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries and the Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble. The four mini-exhibitions feature “Afterlife,” “Non-Western Religion,” “Jesus and Divinity,” and “Muslim Superheroes,” respectively.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present three additional authors in 2012 including paranormal teen romance writer Wendy Delsol (June 21), bestselling thriller writer James Rollins (July 1), and science writer Sam Kean (July 13).

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series can be found at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud.

Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of the 2012 Linn Area Reads selection “Righteous Porkchop,” will give a presentation on Friday, May 11, at 7 p.m. at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center. The presentation is part of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series.

The event is free and open to the public with no tickets required. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

Serving as the senior attorney for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s environmental group Waterkeeper, Hahn Niman was quickly immersed in the world of factory farms. Horrified by what she found, she began a passionate fight to reform the industry. “Righteous Porkchop” is an account of the troubling practices of industrial animal operations. Hahn Niman also offers alternatives for more sustainable livestock farming and recounts her personal love story along the way.

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series and the Linn Area Reads program can be found at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org. More information about Nicolette Hahn Niman and “Righteous Porkchop” can be found at www.righteousporkchop.com.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present four additional authors in 2012 including comics creator and scholar A. David Lewis (June 8), paranormal teen romance writer Wendy Delsol (June 21), bestselling thriller writer James Rollins (July 1), and science writer Sam Kean (July 13).

Linn Area Reads is supported by Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Friends of the Cedar Rapids Public Library, Friends of the Hiawatha Public Library, Friends of the Marion Public Library, The Gazette, the Giacoletto Foundation, the University of Iowa’s Hancher, and the Metro Library Network.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Nicolette Hahn Niman’s presentation is also supported by Gray, Stefani & Mitvalsky PLC and Rush & Nicholson PC.

Marc Brown, creator of the popular Arthur series for young readers, will be the third author in 2012 edition of Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series. Brown will appear in the Linn-Mar High School auditorium on Thursday, May 3, at 7:00 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public, and no tickets are required. The Out Loud! Author Series is a program of the Cedar Rapids, Marion, and Hiawatha Public Libraries.

The Arthur series—which features an adventuresome aardvark, his quirky group of friends, and his precocious little sister D.W.—has been delighting young people since the publication of Arthur’s Nose in 1976. The books are the basis for the PBS television series Arthur.

Following his evening presentation, Brown will take questions from the audience and then sign books. The Cedar Rapids Barnes & Noble will be on hand with copies of Brown’s work available for purchase.

Adult attendees can enter to win one of three $50 Barnes & Noble gift cards that will be given away at the event. There will be additional gift card giveaways for the children in attendance. Additionally, adult attendees can enter to win one of two Nook Color e-readers that will be given away at the end of the Out Loud! season.

During his visit to the area, Brown will give two presentations to second graders from the Linn-Mar, Marion Independent, and Cedar Rapids Community School Districts. Both of those presentations, which are free for attending schools and will also be held in the Linn-Mar High School auditorium, will have full houses of well over 800 children apiece.

The Out Loud! Author Series will present five additional authors in 2012 including Linn Area Reads author Nicolette Hahn Niman (May 11), comics creator and scholar A. David Lewis (June 8), paranormal teen romance writer Wendy Delsol (June 21), bestselling thriller writer James Rollins (July 1), and science writer Sam Kean (July 13).

More information about the Out Loud! Author Series is available at www.metrolibrarynetwork.org/outloud.

Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is supported by the Giacoletto Foundation with media support from The Gazette and event book sales provided by Barnes & Noble Booksellers.