Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Author Series is thrilled to present three of the nation’s most well-known this summer. The collaborative program of the Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion Public Libraries will present Sarah Vowell, Wally Lamb, and Elizabeth Berg in free events at the Hotel at Kirkwood Center.
Sarah Vowell will open this year’s series on Friday, June 27 at 7 p.m. Vowell is the New York Times bestselling author of six nonfiction books on American history and culture. By examining the connections between the American past and present, she offers personal, often humorous accounts of everything from presidents and their assassins to colonial religious fanatics, as well as thoughts on American Indians, utopian dreamers, pop music and the odd cranky cartographer. Vowell was a contributing editor for Public Radio International’s This American Life from 1996-2008, where she produced numerous commentaries and documentaries and toured the country in many of the program’s live shows. Vowell has made numerous appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
Wally Lamb will continue the series on Friday, July 11, at 7 p.m. Lamb is the author of four New York Times best-selling novels: Wishin’ and Hopin’, The Hour I First Believed, I Know This Much is True, and She’s Come Undone and was twice selected for Oprah’s Book Club. His fifth novel is We Are Water, a disquieting and ultimately uplifting novel about a marriage, a family, and human resilience in the face of tragedy.
Elizabeth Berg, one of America’s most beloved chroniclers of female friendship, will close out the series on Friday, July 18, at 7 p.m. Berg has been on the New York Times Bestseller list multiple times. Durable Goods and Joy School were both selected as one of the American Library Association’s Best Books of the Year. Talk Before Sleep was shortlisted for the Abby (American Bookseller’s Book of the Year). Open House was an Oprah’s Book Club Selection. In 1997, Elizabeth won the New England Booksellers Award for her body of work. She has been translated into 27 languages.
While no tickets are required, series organizers are requesting preregistration. 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 events@crlibrary.org.
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/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.
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
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 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?
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.
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 
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.