Author Events

Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook*

Kick off the summer with Claire Cook's new perfect beach read novel!

Jill Murray, has to begin molding her future together after her husband leaves her. In the healing process, Jill learns and endures in order to heal her heart and soul. Winding through love and loss, and creatively humorous, Cook shows us how to re-invent ourselves after loss.

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli*

"The cinematic opening chapter shows Helen Adams, an experienced photojournalist, at the center of the chaotic, violent, desperate streets of Saigon in 1975, on the cusp of the communist takeover, as Vietnamese and Americans race to escape. The narrative then flashes back to a decade earlier, when Helen arrives in bustling Saigon as a young, naïve photographer so anxious not to “miss out” on the war that she has dropped out of college to travel there. She is taken in by Darrow, a photographer who is obsessed with the war and the power his camera gives him to capture. They enter into a tumultuous, passionate love affair as the war worsens. In tandem with the two Americans but undeniably distinct from them, Linh, Darrrow’s enigmatic Vietnamese assistant, steadfastly walks the difficult line between patriot and traitor, and the three form a friendship out of their harrowing situation. When tragedy strikes, Linh and Helen are thrown together and eventually find their friendship developing into love. This is a visceral story about the powerful and complex bonds that war creates. It raises profound questions about professional and personal lives that are based on, and often dependent on, a nation’s horrific strife. Graphic but never gratuitous, the gripping, haunting narrative explores the complexity of violence, foreignness, even betrayal."

"Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, and beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? Have sex? Smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations. As Mary Roach discovers, it’s possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA’s new space capsule, Roach takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth."