Library Journal Day of Dialog Spring 2024

Join us May 9 for our Library Journal Day of Dialog virtual event! Spanning a variety of genres, this day-long program will offer an in-depth look at the biggest forthcoming books for summer/fall 2024. You’ll hear directly from top authors as they discuss their new titles, inspiration, process, and more. 

And don’t forget the virtual exhibit hall! Visit the booths to download free resources, chat with representatives, and engage with authors in a smaller setting. 

#LJDOD

EVENT HOURS: 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM ET 

All live sessions will be on Zoom. Make sure to log in to your work or personal Zoom account before the day starts to avoid having to log in for each session.

The Virtual Environment is optimized for 1024 X 768 screen resolution. Joining the environment with a cell phone is not recommended. Please make sure your computer and browser are up to date. Chrome tends to work best. The event platform does not support IE11 + Windows 7 or older versions.

CE certificates are available in the event environment for all keynotes and panels, whether you view them live or on-demand. Certificates are not provided for sponsored content.

If you are unable to join us on the live day, know that all sessions will be available for on-demand viewing within 24 hours, and the entire event will be accessible for three months from the event date. 

By registering for this event or webcast, you are agreeing to Library Journal Privacy Policy and Code of Conduct Policy and agreeing that Library Journal may share your registration information with current and future sponsors of this event.

If you have any questions, contact the Event Manager.

9:00 – 9:30 AM ET | The Exhibit Hall Opens

In-Booth Chat

9:00 – 9:30 AM ET | Join the Library Love Fest Team as we kick off Day of Dialog with a book buzz of select Fall & Winter titles that have set our hearts aflutter! (HarperCollins)
 

9:30 – 10:00 AM ET | Opening Keynote

Hear New York Times bestselling and Lambda Literary Award­–winning TJ Klune, author of The House in the Cerulean SeaUnder the Whispering Door, and In the Lives of Puppets, talk about the next book in the “Cerulean Chronicles,” Somewhere Beyond the Sea (Tor: Macmillan)
Introduced by Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton


In-Booth Chat

10:50 – 11:30 AM ET | Supernatural Fear (CamCat Books)
 

TWO CONCURRENT PANELS


10:05 – 10:55 AM ET | Twists and Turns
These thrillers will keep readers turning pages and guessing until the very end.

Jeffrey Archer, An Eye for an Eye (HarperCollins)
Kimi Cunningham Grant, The Nature of Disappearing (Minotaur Books: Macmillan)
Jessa Maxwell, I Need You to Read This (Atria Books: Simon & Schuster)
T.J. Newman, Worst-Case Scenario (Little, Brown and Company: Hachette)
Kathy Reichs, Fire and Bones (Scribner: Simon & Schuster)
Moderator: Lynnanne Pearson, Information Librarian, Arlington Heights Memorial Library


10:05 – 10:55 AM ET | The Power of Positive
Five books to inspire, uplift, and help readers heal.

Soraya Chemaly, The Resilience Myth (Simon & Schuster)
Nikkya Hargrove, Mama (Algonquin Books: Hachette Book Group)
Prentis Hemphill, What It Takes to Heal (Random House: Penguin Random House)
Lucia Knell & Gabriel Reilich,
Upworthy - GOOD PEOPLE (National Geographic: Disney)
Mark Nepo, You Don't Have to Do It Alone (St. Martin's Essentials: Macmillan)
Moderator: Dontaná McPherson-Joseph, Collection Management Librarian, Oak Park Public Library (IL)



TWO CONCURRENT PANELS


11:00 – 11:30 AM ET | Currency of History
The past and present merge in these two works of political science and history.

Brea Baker, Rooted (One World: Penguin Random House)
Rebecca Nagle, By the Fire We Carry (HarperCollins)

Moderator: Mattie Cook-Hildebrandt, Director, Lyons Township District Library (MI) 


11:00 – 11:30 AM ET | Socially Engaged
Critical books for those interested in how our society works—and how it doesn’t.

Sara C. Bronin, Key to the City (W. W. Norton & Company)
Premal Dharia, Dismantling Mass Incarceration (FSG Originals: Macmillan)
Brian Rashad Fuller, Being Black in America's Schools (Dafina: Kensington Publishing Corp.)

Moderator: Anjelica Rufus-Barnes, Reference Librarian, Prospect Heights Public Library District (IL)


11:30 AM – 12:00 PM ET | Break / Visit the Exhibit Hall
 

In-Booth Chats

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM ET | High-Stakes Read (CamCat Books)
11:30 AM – 12:00 PM ET | Attendees of this live, 30-minute booth chat will receive a galley, exclusive content, and will be the first to know about the featured authors on our Writers to Watch episode in May. (HarperCollins)

 

TWO CONCURRENT PANELS


12:00 – 12:50 PM ET | Chilling Thrills
Spooky and creepy novels that will make readers check the locks and sleep with the lights on.

Leslie J. Anderson, The Unmothers (Quirk Books)
Josh Malerman, Incidents Around the House (Del Rey: Penguin Random House)
Rivers Solomon, Model Home (MCD: Macmillan)
Chuck Tingle, Bury Your Gays (Tor Nightfire: Macmillan)
Josh Winning, Heads Will Roll (G.P. Putnam’s Sons: Penguin Random House)
Moderator: Janeé Jackson-Doering, Youth Services Consultant, State Library of Iowa, Des Moines (IA)


12:00 – 12:50 PM ET | Romance + Fantasy
If the perfect meet-cute involves dragons, tea, taverns, or talking animals, then these books are just the magic spell.

Carissa Broadbent, The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King (Bramble: Macmillan)
Sarah Beth Durst, The Spellshop (Bramble: Macmillan)
Thea Guanzon, A Monsoon Rising (Harper Voyager: HarperCollins)
Crystal J. Johnson & Felicity Vaughn, Unleashing Chaos (Frayed Pages x Wattpad Books: Wattpad WEBTOON Book Group)
Heather Walter, The Crimson Crown (Del Rey: Penguin Random House)

Moderator: Eve Stano, Collection Strategist, University of Iowa Libraries


12:55 – 1:25 PM ET | Afternoon Keynote
Join bestselling Bram Stoker and British Fantasy award winner Paul Tremblay and Sarah Langan, author of A Better World, as they discuss his new book, Horror Movie (William Morrow: HarperCollins). Tremblay is the author of multiple novels, including The Beast You Are and The Pallbearers.


TWO CONCURRENT PANELS


1:30 – 2:20 PM ET | Crime That Pays
Conspiracies, murders, and scams abound in these novels, with antiheroes up to no good and brave crime fighters saving the day.

Traci Hunter Abramson, Hometown Vendetta (Shadow Mountain Publishing)
Esme Addison, An Intrigue of Witches (Severn House)
Iman Hariri-Kia, The Most Famous Girl in the World (Sourcebooks Landmark: Sourcebooks)
Elle Marr, Your Dark Secrets (Hyperion Avenue: Disney)
Emma C. Wells, This Girl's a Killer (Poisoned Pen Press: Sourcebooks)
Moderator: Henrietta Thornton, Co-Founder, firstCLUE!

 

1:30 – 2:20 PM ET | Secrets Can Be Fun | Riddle-Filled Books
These five novels push the boundaries of mystery in intriguing ways.

Alisa Alering, Smothermoss (Tin House)
Megaera C. Lorenz, The Shabti (CamCat Books)
Nadine Matheson, The Kill List (Hanover Square Press: HTP Books)
Delia Pitts, Trouble in Queenstown (Minotaur Books: Macmillan)
Sara Shepard, Gaslight (Blackstone Publishing)
Moderator: Ashley Rayner, Librarian at NORC, University of Chicago (IL)

 

In-Booth Chat

2:50 – 3:20 PM ET | Love Is in the Air (CamCat Books)


TWO CONCURRENT PANELS


2:25 – 2:55 PM ET | Books Across Genres
Enjoy these inviting takes on the dystopian, mystery, and fantasy genres.

Jami Fairleigh, Oil and Dust (Indie Author Project)
Katrina Kwan, The Last Dragon of the East (Simon & Schuster)
Roz Noonan, Puzzle Me a Murder (Kensington Cozies: Kensington Publishing Corp.)

Moderator: Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton


2:25 – 2:55 PM ET | Personal Stories
Walk a mile in someone else’s shoes with these engrossing memoirs.

Maria Bamford & Scott Cassidy, Hogbook and Lazer Eyes (Fantagraphics)
KB Brookins, Pretty (Knopf: Penguin Random House)
Priyanka Mattoo, Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones (Knopf: Penguin Random House)

Moderator: Kristyn Dorfman, Lower and Middle School Librarian, Friends Academy (NY)


2:55 – 3:25 PM ET | Break / Visit the Exhibit Hall


In-Booth Chats

2:55 – 3:20 PM ET | Join us on zoom for a Q&A with HORROR FOR WEENIES author Emily C Hughes! (Quirk Books)
3:20 – 4:00 PM ET | Thrilling Beach Reads (CamCat Books)


TWO CONCURRENT PANELS


3:25 – 3:55 PM ET | Foodways
Explore different cultures and delicious meals with these enticing cookbooks.

Imad Alarnab, Imad's Syrian Kitchen: A Love Letter to Damascus (Interlink)
Michelle T. King, Chop Fry Watch Learn (W. W. Norton & Company)
Tue Nguyen, Di An : The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking with TwayDaBae (A Cookbook) (Simon & Schuster)

Moderator: Ron Block, Branch Manager, Cuyahoga County Public Library System (OH)

 

3:25 – 3:55 PM ET | Literary Fiction Debuts
These three debut authors explore family, loss, and hope.

Mary Annaïse Heglar, Troubled Waters (Harper Muse: HarperCollins Focus)
Asha Thanki, A Thousand Times Before (Viking: Penguin Random House)

Ruby Todd, Bright Objects (Simon & Schuster)
Moderator: Andrea Gough, Adult Services Librarian, The Seattle Public Library (WA)


TWO CONCURRENT PANELS


4:00 – 4:50 PM ET | Family Matters
One can’t choose their family, but readers can choose titles about fascinating relatives.

Ann Davila Cardinal, We Need No Wings (Sourcebooks Landmark: Sourcebooks)
Betsy Lerner, Shred Sisters (Grove Press: Grove Atlantic)
Onyi Nwabineli, Allow Me to Introduce Myself (Graydon House: HTP Books)
Kat Tang, Five-Star Stranger (Scribner: Simon & Schuster)
Moderator: Elisa Garcia, Supervising Librarian of MyLibraryNYC, Collections, New York Public Library

 

4:00 – 4:50 PM ET | Bridging the Gap
These political science nonfiction reads help identify common ground and understand why the personal is political.

Zeke Hernandez, The Truth About Immigration (St. Martin's Press: Macmillan)
Rob Larson, Mastering the Universe (Haymarket Books)
Michael Morris, Tribal (Penguin Random House)
Annalee Newitz, Stories Are Weapons (W. W. Norton & Company)
Timothy Snyder, On Freedom (Crown: Penguin Random House)
Moderator: Michael Rodriguez, Senior Strategist, Content & Scholarly Communication Initiatives, Lyrasis


TWO CONCURRENT PANELS
 

4:55 – 5:25 PM ET | Book-Talking
Join best-selling author Adriana Trigiani, host of the You Are What You Read podcast, and librarian Ron Block, co-host of the Friends & Fiction podcast, as they talk books, podcasting, and building communities of readers.


4:55 – 5:25 PM ET | Historical Tales
These novels turn real history into imaginative and immersive novels, highlighting time, place, and character. 

Carole Hopson, A Pair of Wings (Henry Holt and Co.: Macmillan)
Lisa Wingate, Shelterwood (Ballantine Books: Penguin Random House)
David Wroblewski, Familiaris (Blackstone Publishing)
Moderator: Julie Kane, Professor and Collection Strategies Librarian, Washington and Lee University (VA)

 

5:30 – 6:00 PM ET | Closing Keynote
Listen as Silvia Moreno-Garcia, the bestselling Locus and British Fantasy Award–winning author, talks about The Seventh Veil of Salome (Del Rey: Penguin Random House). Moreno-Garcia is the author of Silver Nitrate, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, and Mexican Gothic.
Moderator: Tina Panik, Reference & Adult Services Manager, Avon Free Public Library (CT)

 

 

KEYNOTES


 
   

TJ Klune is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, the Green Creek Series for adults, the Extraordinaries Series for teens, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it's important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories. 

   


 

   

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of the novels Velvet Was the Night, Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow, and a bunch of other books. She has also edited several anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award–winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). She has been nominated for the Locus Award for her work as an editor and has won the British Fantasy Award and the Locus Award for her work as a novelist. 

   

 

   

Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the nationally bestselling author of The Beast You Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things and Other Stories, Disappearance at Devil’s Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted into the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. He lives outside Boston with his family. 

   

SPEAKERS


 
   

Traci Hunter Abramson worked for the Central Intelligence Agency for several years and credits the agency with giving her a wealth of ideas for writing as well as the skills needed to survive her children’s teenage years. She has written several award-winning, best-selling suspense novels. She currently lives in Virginia with her family where she enjoys sports, travel, and writing. She recently retired from coaching high school swimming. 

   


 

   

Esme Addison is the bestselling author of the Enchanted Bay mysteries, the first of which was nominated for an Agatha Award, and the brand-new Secret Society mysteries which launches with An Intrigue Of Witches. Esme lives in Raleigh, NC with her family and is a member of Sisters In Crime, International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America and Crime Writers of Color. 

   

 

   

Imad Alarnab is a Syrian chef, entrepreneur, and refugee who ran three successful restaurants, several juice bars and cafes in Damascus. Imad's businesses were destroyed in the war and he was forced to flee the country for safety. Making his way from Lebanon through Europe, Imad shared his skills, cooking for other refugees, up to 400 at a time. Imad arrived in London in 2015 and eventually his family was able to join him. He made waves in the London restaurant scene with a series of fundraising events that were hugely popular. Named GQ’s “Best Breakthrough Restaurant” in 2022, Imad opened his much-anticipated restaurant in London in May 2021. 

   


 

   

Alisa Alering, author of the debut novel Smothermoss (Tin House), grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Pennsylvania and now lives in Arizona. After attending Clarion West, their short fiction has been published in Fireside, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Podcastle, and Cast of Wonders, among others, and been recognized by the Calvino Prize. A former librarian and science/technology reporter, they teach fiction workshops at the Highlights Foundation. 

   

 
   

Leslie J. Anderson has spent much of her life riding, training, and caring for horses. Her collection of poetry, An Inheritance of Stone, was nominated for an Elgin award. She has a Creative Writing MA from Ohio University and lives in Ohio with her family. The Unmothers (Quirk Books) is her debut novel. 

 

   

 
   

Brea Baker has been working on the front lines for more than a decade. She believes deeply in nuanced storytelling and Black culture to drive change, and she has commented on race, gender, and sexuality for Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Refinery29, Them, and more. Her writing has been featured in the anthologies Our History Has Always Been Contraband and No Justice, No Peace. She has spoken at the United Nations’ Girl Up Initiative, Yale Law School, the Youth to Youth Summit in Hong Kong, the Museum of the City of New York, and elsewhere. 

 

 

 


 

   

Maria Bamford is a writer, actor, and stand-up comedian. Her husband, Scott Marvel Cassidy, is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts whose work has been exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. They live in Los Angeles, CA. Hogbook and Lazer Eyes is their first book together.    

 

 

 

 
   

Carissa Broadbent has been concerning teachers and parents with mercilessly grim tales since she was roughly nine years old. Since then, her stories have gotten (slightly) less depressing and (hopefully a lot?) more readable. Today, she writes novels that blend epic fantasy plots with a heaping dose of romance. She lives with her husband, her son, one very poorly behaved rabbit, and one perpetually skeptical cat in Rhode Island. 

 

   


 

   

Sara C. Bronin is a Mexican-American architect, attorney, professor, and policymaker whose interdisciplinary work focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed, and connected places. Her book, Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World, will be published by Norton in October 2024.  Born and raised in Houston (famously the only large city in the US without zoning), Bronin lives in Washington, DC. 

 

   

   

KB Brookins is a Black, queer, and trans writer and cultural worker from Texas. They are the author of Freedom House and How to Identify Yourself with a Wound. Brookins has poems, essays, and installation art published in Academy of American Poets, Teen Vogue, Poetry Magazine, Prizer Arts & Letters, Okayplayer, Poetry Society of America, Autostraddle, and other venues. They have earned fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, Equality Texas, and others. 

 

   


 

   

Ann Dávila Cardinal is a two-time International Latino Book Award winning novelist and aging tattooed punk. Her adult debut, the novel The Storyteller’s Death, was released by Sourcebooks in 2022, and her next magical realist adult novel, We Need No Wings, will be released from Sourcebooks on September 10, 2024. Ann lives in Vermont, needle-felts tiny reading creatures, and prepares for the zombie apocalypse. 

 

   


 

   

Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning writer and activist whose work focuses on the role of gender in culture, politics, religion, and media. She is the Director of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project and an advocate for women’s freedom of expression and expanded civic and political engagement. A prolific writer and speaker, her articles appear in Time, The Verge, The Guardian, The Nation, HuffPost, and The Atlantic. Follow her on Twitter at @SChemaly and learn more at SorayaChemaly.com. 

 

 


 

   

Premal Dharia is the executive director of the Institute to End Mass Incarceration at Harvard Law School and is coeditor in chief of Inquest. She has written for The Washington Post, CNN, Slate, and other publications. 

 

   

 
   

Sarah Beth Durst is the author of over twenty-five fantasy books for adults, teens, and kids, including The Queens of Renthia series, Drink Slay Love, and Spark. She has won an American Library Association Alex Award and a Mythopoeic Fantasy Award and has been a finalist for the Andre Norton Nebula Award three times. She lives in Stony Brook, New York, with her husband, her children, and her ill-mannered cat. 

 

   

 
   

Jami Fairleigh is an award-winning Japanese-American writer, urban planner, and hobby collector from the rainy Pacific Northwest. She shares her life with a husband, a trio of well-mannered horses, a dubiously behaved parrot, and one neurotic dog. Fairleigh writes short fiction in a variety of genres and fantasy novels for both middle grade and adult audiences. She is currently working on the last novel in the Elemental Artist fantasy series. You can find her and more information about her writing at jamifairleigh.com

 

   

 
   

Brian Rashad Fuller is an educational leader, writer, and strategist with a passion for addressing the needs of historically underserved students. He earned a MEd in School Leadership and Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and previously has launched the Philadelphia arm of The DREAM Program, taught 3rd grade, helped manage the NYC Community Schools initiative, and later served as Chief Strategy Officer for School Planning and Development at the NYC Department of Education. He is now Associate Provost for Strategy and Operations at The New School in New York City. 

 

   

 
   

Kimi Cunningham Grant is the author of four books: Silver Like Dust, Fallen Mountains, These Silent Woods, and her newest novel, The Nature of Disappearing. Kimi is a two-time winner of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Memorial Prize in Poetry and a recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts fellowship in creative nonfiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in Literary Mama, RATTLE, Poet Lore, and Whitefish Review. She studied English at Bucknell University and Messiah College. She lives, writes, and teaches in Pennsylvania. 

 

   

 
   

Thea Guanzon is the New York Times bestselling author of The Hurricane Wars. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, with a specialization in international Politics and Peace Studies. When she’s not writing, she can be found traveling, running a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, or fangirling over villains. She currently resides in Metro Manila, Philippines. 

 

   

 
   

Nikkya Hargrove is a graduate of Bard College and currently serves as a member of the school's Board of Governors and chair of the alumni/ae Diversity Committee. A LAMBDA Literary Nonfiction Fellow, she has written about adoption, marriage, motherhood, and the prison system for The Washington Post, The Guardian, The New York Times, Scary Mommy, and Shondaland. She is the vice president of operations and programs at a New York City-based health nonprofit and lives in Connecticut with her wife and three children. 

 

   

 
   

Iman Hariri-Kia is a writer, editor, and author, born and based in New York City. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and an award-winning journalist, she covers sex, relationships, identity, and adolescence. Her work has appeared in Vogue, New York Magazine’s The Cut, Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, and more. Her debut novel, A Hundred Other Girls, was published in July 2022 to critical acclaim. Her sophomore novel, The Most Famous Girl In The World, will be published in September 2024.

   


 

   

Mary Annaïse Heglar is known for her essays that dissect and interrogate the climate crisis, drawing heavily on her personal experience as a Black woman with deep roots in the South. Her work has appeared in New York Magazine, The Nation, The Boston Globe, Vox, Rolling Stone, and other outlets. They have also been featured in collections like All We Can Save, The World As We Knew It, The Black Agenda, Letters to the Earth, and Not Too Late. Mary hails from Birmingham, Alabama by way of Mississippi and she is based in New Orleans. 

 

   

 

 
 

Zeke Hernandez is the Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Associate Professor at the Wharton School. His pioneering research linking immigration to investment and economic growth has won multiple prizes, including an unprecedented three emerging scholar awards from the top academic associations in his field. Zeke is one of the highest rated teachers at Wharton, a Poets & Quants Best business professor in the world, and one of the youngest recipients of a presidential professorship at the University of Pennsylvania. He loves his family, soccer, and meeting people from all over the world. 

 

   

 
   

Carole Hopson is a Captain on the Boeing 737 for United Airlines, based in Newark, NJ. After a 20-year career as a journalist and brand executive, Carole followed her dream to become a pilot. A century after Bessie soared over seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Black women in the U.S. account for less than one percent of all professional pilots (military, cargo, corporate and airlines combined.) Inspired by Bessie's spectacular accomplishments, Carole founded the Jet Black Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to sending 100 Black women to flight school by the year 2035. 

 

   

 
   

Crystal J. Johnson and Felicity Vaughn are award-winning authors and Wattpad Creators who have co-written ten novels, including Spellbound and Edge of the Veil. Crystal lives in Phoenix, Arizona, while Felicity is from Nashville, Tennessee. 

 

   

 

   

Michelle T. King is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she specializes in modern Chinese gender and food history. Her new book, Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food, will be published by Norton in May. A 2020-21 National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar, she lives in Chapel Hill with her family. 

 

   

 
   

Upworthy V.P. Lucia Knell has made the company into one of the most beloved brands on the internet, based on her belief that media can be used to unite people. A graduate of Kenyon College, she splits her time between Los Angeles and New York City. 

   

 
   

Katrina Kwan is a Vancouver-based author and actress. After graduating from Acadia University in 2017 with a BA in political science with honors, Kwan spent the next six years honing her creative skills as a freelance ghostwriter. With several ghostwritten romance novels under her belt, she’s ecstatic to finally be writing books under her own name. She lives in Vancouver with her husband and two cats, and when she isn’t writing, she is desperately trying to keep her collection of houseplants alive.  

   

 
   

Rob Larson is a professor of economics at Tacoma Community College and author of Bit Tyrants: The Political Economy of Silicon Valley, and Capitalism vs. Freedom. He writes for Jacobin, In These Times, and Dollars & Sense. He is the House Economist at Current Affairs. Larson lives in Tacoma, Washington (because Jeff Bezos has made Seattle unliveably expensive).  

 

   

 
   

Betsy Lerner is the author of The Forest for the Trees, Food and Loathing, and The Bridge Ladies. She is also the co-author with Temple Grandin of three New York Times bestsellers including Visual Thinking. Betsy received an MFA from Columbia University in Poetry. She is a literary agent and partner at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. Shred Sisters is her first novel. 

 

   

 
   

Megaera C. Lorenz is an Egyptologist and professional tech writer/editor who is fascinated with all things odd and uncanny. After earning her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2017, she decided to pursue her lifelong interest in creative writing. She loves to craft stories that tap into her interests and expertise and combine them in strange and surprising ways. She has lived in the Chicagoland area for nearly 20 years. Currently, she resides in St. Charles, IL with her family, which includes two kids, two cats, and a hyperactive Belgian Tervuren. 

 

   

 
   

Elle Marr is a #1 Amazon Charts best-selling author of thrillers. Originally from Sacramento, Elle graduated from UC San Diego before moving to France, where she earned a master’s degree from the Sorbonne University in Paris. She now lives and writes in Oregon with her family. Her latest book, The Family Bones, earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called it a "mesmerizing psychological thriller." 

 

   

 
   

Nadine Matheson is a criminal defense attorney and winner of the City University Crime Writing competition. She is the author of Jigsaw Man, The Binding Room and The Kill List, available Aug 6, 2024. She lives in London, UK. 

 

   

 
   

Priyanka Mattoo is a writer, filmmaker, former talent agent, and a cofounder of Earios, a women-led podcast network. She is a contributor to The New York Times and The New Yorker, and a recipient of a MacDowell Fellow­ship. Mattoo holds degrees in Italian and law from the University of Michigan and currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and kids.

   

 
    Jessa Maxwell is the author of The Golden Spoon and I Need You to Read This. She is also the author and illustrator of five picture books for children. Her comics and cartoons have been published in The New Yorker and The New York Times and her writing has been published in Slate, Marie Claire, and many others. She now lives in Jamestown, Rhode Island with her husband, two cats and three-legged dog.      

 

   

Michael Morris is the Chavkin-Chang Professor of Leadership at Columbia Business School and a Professor in its Psychology Department. He has published hundreds of scientific papers in different behavioral sciences and is best known for pioneering contributions to the field of Cultural Psychology, which studies how cultures shape minds— and how minds shape cultures. Outside of academia, Professor Morris serves as a consultant on behavioral and cultural topics to clients around the world. He lives in New York City.

   


 

   

Rebecca Nagle is an award-winning journalist and citizen of Cherokee Nation. She is the writer and host of the podcast This Land. Her writing on Native representation, federal Indian law, and tribal sovereignty has been featured in the Atlantic, the Washington Post, The Guardian, USA Today, Indian Country Today, and more. Rebecca Nagle is the recipient of the American Mosaic Journalism Prize, Women’s Media Center’s Exceptional Journalism Award, a Peabody Nominee, and numerous awards from the Native American Journalist Association. Nagle lives in Tahlequah, OK. 

   

 
   

Mark Nepo is a poet and philosopher who has taught in the fields of poetry and spirituality for over 40 years. A New York Times #1 bestselling author, he has published over 20 books, including The Book of Awakening, Surviving Storms, and Finding Courage, and has recorded more than a dozen audio projects. Mark has appeared on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday and Good Morning America. As a cancer survivor, Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationships. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages. 

   


 

   

Annalee Newitz is a journalist and author of science fiction and nonfiction, including the national best-seller Four Lost Cities. Their new book, Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, will be published by Norton in June. They write for the New York Times and New Scientist and co-host the Hugo Award-winning podcast Our Opinions Are Correct. They live in San Francisco. 

   

 
   

T.J. Newman is a former bookseller and flight attendant whose first novel, Falling, became a publishing sensation and debuted at number two on the New York Times bestseller list. The book was named a best book of the year by USA Today, Esquire, and Amazon, among many others. The book will soon be a major motion picture from Universal Pictures. T.J. lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Her second novel, Drowning, was released in May 2023 and became an instant New York Times bestseller. Drowning sold to Warner Brothers in a headline-making $3m deal. T.J. is also the executive producer of the film. 

   


 

   

Tue Nguyen, a.k.a. @TwayDaBae, is a Vietnamese chef and one of the fastest rising stars in the culinary space. Since graduating from culinary school and beginning her content creation journey, she has showcased her skills through sold-out pop-ups in Los Angeles and New York City, which led to her partnering with Hwood Group to open her first restaurant, DiDi, in Los Angeles. She can be seen as the current host of Making it Big on BuzzFeed’s food network Tasty and as the host of People’s first digital food show, Celeb Eats. She lives in Los Angeles. 

   

 
   

Roz Noonan is the New York Times bestselling author of the Alice Pepper Lonely Hearts Puzzle Club Mysteries, the Laura Mori Mysteries (under the name R.J. Noonan), acclaimed contemporary fiction, and domestic suspense novels. She also co-authored the bestselling collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous with Lisa Jackson and Nancy Bush, and she also writes crime novels under the name R. J. Noonan. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, where she writes in the shade of some towering two-hundred-year-old Douglas fir trees. 

   


 

   

Onyi Nwabineli is a Nigerian British head-wrap aficionado. Born in Benin, Nigeria, she grew up in Glasgow, the Isle of Man and Newcastle, and now lives in London. Onyi is the founder of Black Pens (black-pens.com), a writing retreat for Black womxn, and cofounder of Surviving Out Loud, a fund that provides fiscal support for survivors of sexual assault. Her debut novel, Someday, Maybe was a Good Morning America and Book of the Month Club Pick. 

   

 
   

Delia Pitts worked as a journalist before earning a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. After careers as a U.S. diplomat and university administrator, she left academia to begin writing fiction. Trouble in Queenstown is the first book in a new mystery series featuring Black private investigator Vandy Myrick. Delia is also the author of the Ross Agency Mysteries, about a Harlem detective firm, and several short stories. She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and Crime Writers of Color. 

   

 
   

Kathy Reichs’s first novel Déjà Dead, published in 1997, won the Ellis Award for Best First Novel and was an international bestseller. Fire and Bones is Reichs’s twenty-third novel featuring forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan. Reichs was also a producer of Fox Television’s longest running scripted drama, Bones, which was based on her work and her novels. One of very few forensic anthropologists certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, Reichs divides her time between Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina.  

   

 
   

As Head of Content & Innovation at Upworthy, Gabriel Reilich has led the company’s transformation into a global social media brand. A veteran of the entertainment and music industry and a graduate of UC Berkeley, he lives in Los Angeles. 

 

   

 
   

Sara Shepard is the author of more than forty novels for children, teens, and adults, including the #1 New York Times bestselling series Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game. She lives in Pittsburgh, PA, with her family. Gaslight is her next highly anticipated adult novel, based on the widely popular podcast of the same name from the book’s co-author Miles Joris-Peyrafitte. 

 

   

 
   

Timothy Snyder is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History and Global Affairs at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. His books, which have been published in over forty languages, include Bloodlands, Black Earth, On Tyranny, Road to Unfreedom, and Our Malady. His work has inspired poster campaigns and exhibitions, sculptures, a punk rock song, a rap song, a play, and an opera, and he has appeared in over fifty films and documentaries. 

   

 
   

Rivers Solomon writes about life in the margins, where they are very at home. They are the author of several critically acclaimed and award-winning novels, including An Unkindness of Ghosts, The Deep, and Sorrowland. Their work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Guernica, Best American Short Stories, Tor.com, Best American Horror and Dark Fantasy, and elsewhere. A refugee of the transatlantic slave trade, Solomon was born on Turtle Island but currently resides on an isle in an archipelago off the western coast of the Eurasian continent. 

   

 
   

Kat Tang is a graduate of Columbia’s MFA program where she taught as an Undergraduate Writing Fellow. Born in China, relocated to Japan, and raised in California, she is fascinated by how we make and fake human connection in a technologically evolving world. Her short stories and graphic narratives have appeared in Electric Literature, The Margins, Pigeon Pages, and elsewhere. She currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri. 

   

 
   

Asha Thanki received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Minnesota. Her work has appeared in The Southern Review, Catapult, Hyphen, and more. She is the winner of the 2019 Arkansas International Emerging Writers Prize and fourth prizewinner of Zoetrope’s 2020 Short Fiction Competition. A Kundiman fellow, Asha has received a Randall Kenan Scholarship at Sewanee Writers Conference, Fiction Scholarship with Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and the A.C. Bose Grant for South Asian Speculative Literature. 

 
   

 
   

Chuck Tingle is the USA Today bestselling author of Camp Damascus and the forthcoming, Bury Your Gays. He is a mysterious force of energy behind sunglasses and a pink mask. He is also an anonymous author of romance, horror, and fantasy. Chuck was born in Home of Truth, Utah, and now splits time between Billings, Montana and Los Angeles, California. Chuck writes to prove love is real, because love is the most important tool we have when resisting the endless cosmic void. Not everything people say about Chuck is true, but the important parts are. 

   

 
   

Ruby Todd is a Melbourne-based writer with a PhD in writing and literature. She is the recipient of the 2019 Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest Award for Fiction and the inaugural 2020 Furphy Literary Award, among others. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, Crazyhorse, Overland, and elsewhere. Her debut novel, Bright Objects, was shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award. She is a 2023 Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellow.  

   

 
   

Adriana Trigiani is The New York Times bestselling author of 20 books in fiction and nonfiction. Her books include The Shoemaker’s Wife, The Good Left Undone, Don’t Sing at the Table, and Lucia, Lucia. She is host of the hit podcast, You Are What You Read. Trigiani grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where she co-founded The Origin Project, an in-school writing program serving students in Appalachia. In 2023, she was knighted with the Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia by President Sergio Mattarella of Italy. She lives in New York City with her family.  

   

 
   

Heather Walter is the award-winning author of the Malice duology. She holds degrees in both English and library science, thus guaranteeing that she’s always surrounded by stories. At any given moment, you can find her plotting. 

   


 

   

Emma C. Wells loves anti-heroes, dark humor, witty banter, and ride-or-die friendships. Twisty relationships are her kryptonite (or catnip—depending on how you look at it) and her favorite characters are often called unlikable (but at least they're never boring). Emma enjoys camping, yoga, researching spooky folklore, and collecting copies of Wuthering Heights from used bookstores. Her debut thriller is This Girl’s a Killer

   

 
   

Lisa Wingate is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Before We Were Yours, which has sold more than three million copies and been translated into over forty languages worldwide. The co-author, with Judy Christie, of the nonfiction book Before and After, Wingate is a Goodreads Choice Award winner, an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, a Southern Book Prize winner, and was named among the 2023 Distinguished Alumni of Oklahoma State University. She lives with her husband in North Texas and Central Colorado. 

   

 
   

Josh Winning is the critically acclaimed author of Burn the Negative and The Shadow Glass. He is a senior film writer at Radio Times, has written for Total Film for over a decade, and is the cohost of movie podcast Torn Stubs. During his years as a film journalist, he has been on set with Kermit the Frog (and Miss Piggy), devoured breakfast with zombies on The Walking Dead, and sat on the Iron Throne on the Dublin set of Game of Thrones. Winning lives in London with his cat Penny and dreams of one day convincing Sigourney Weaver to yell “Goddammit!” at him. 

   

 
   

David Wroblewski is the author of the internationally bestselling novel The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, an Oprah Book Club pick, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and winner of the Colorado Book Award, Indie Choice Best Author Discovery award, and the Midwest Bookseller Association’s Choice award. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle has been translated into over twenty-five languages. He lives in Colorado with the writer Kimberly McClintock. 

 
   
           
     

 

 

   

 

MODERATORS


 
    Beth Atwater apart from a brief stint in publishing, has worked in libraries since she was a teenager. She is now the Collection Development Librarian for Adult Fiction and DVDs at the Johnson County Library in Kansas. She also reviews Romance for Publisher’s Weekly and just finished serving as a movie Screener for the True/False Film Festival. Beth’s always looking for ways to highlight a good story and was honored to be recognized as the Public Library Association’s 2020 Allie Beth Martin winner.  

 
    Ron Block is a Branch Manager in the Cuyahoga County Public Library System in Cleveland, Ohio. His passion for libraries, reading and cooking have fueled non-traditional library programs and community collaborations. He was named a 2020 Library Journal Mover and Shaker and serves as a judge for the James Beard Cookbook Awards. Ron has recently become the Podcast Host for https://friendsandfiction.com/, representing 4 NYT Bestselling authors.  

 

   

Kristi Chadwick is a Consultant for Massachusetts Library System, providing advisory and continuing education for multitype library members all across the Commonwealth. Kristi is also the columnist for Library Journal's Science Fiction & Fantasy reviews. You can find her discussing writing, books, libraries, and her love for coffee, chickens, and fountain pens on Twitter @booksnyarn. 

 

 
    Mattie Cook-Hildebrand has been a library director and Library Journal Social Science reviewer for 10 years. She lives in Michigan with her husband, daughter, and two Boston terriers.    

 

   

Kristyn Dorfman has been a school librarian for over a decade and has worked with children of all ages, from early childhood to High School Seniors. She has been reviewing for School Library Journal since 2013 and has served on several ALA and ALA affiliate committees including most recently APALA's 2020-2021 Youth Literature Award. She spends most of her free time reading, writing, doing the crossword, and spending time with her three young children.  

 

 
    Elisa Anais Garcia is the Supervising Librarian of MyLibraryNYC, Collections at The New York Public Library in partnership with the New York City Department of Education, The Brooklyn Public Library, and The Queens Public Library. She is motivated to foster a love of reading in reluctant readers and therefore strives to introduce them to a diverse world of experiences through books.   


 

   

Andrea Gough has worked in public libraries as both a reader services and adult services librarian, currently at The Seattle Public Library. Andrea served on the ALA RUSA CODES Reading List Committee, devouring the best books across eight different genres. While every genre has its day, Andrea is particularly drawn to fiction that explores women’s lives and relationships, mysteries, fantasy, and that nebulous category: literary fiction. While you should not judge a book by its cover, if that cover has a horse on it then Andrea will absolutely pick it up.

 


 

   

Janeé Jackson-Doering is the Youth Services Consultant for the State Library of Iowa. She has worked as a librarian in small and large public libraries in Iowa for over 10 ½ years. Janeé also is the host of Check It Out, an online book talking platform for public librarians in Iowa. When she’s not working on youth-related projects, she loves to read all kinds of Horror Fiction and has loved the Horror genre since childhood. Janeé lives in Des Moines, Iowa with her husband and their furry cat, Aslan. 

 


 

   

Julie Kane’s librarianship has been primarily academic and influenced by her lifelong love of reading. Her BA is from Mount Holyoke, MS LIS from Simmons, MA in English from Lynchburg, and perspective from growing up in Vermont and moving on to life and jobs in New England, California, and Virginia. She has served on the ALA Barbara Gittings Stonewall Book Award panel and was a 2023 LJ Reviewer of the Year. Findable on Instagram at @kanedomain, she’s madly in love with reading, learning to knit and following the adventures of her Plott hound, Hobbes.

 

 
    Dontaná McPherson-Joseph is an avid reader and dedicated librarian with a passion for curating diverse collections. An active member of the American Library Association, she currently serves as Chair of the Rainbow Round Table. She lives in the Chicagoland area with her pets Monroe and Pistachio, and several overflowing bookshelves.  


 

   

Ashley Rayner is a research librarian at NORC at the University of Chicago. She has been an academic and public librarian as well, all within the Chicagoland area. Ashley loves reading any genre but she has a special love for speculative fiction, historical fiction, and thrillers. She started writing book reviews for Booklist in 2020 and they help her stay connected to fiction as a librarian at a social science research organization. When she's not reading or researching, Ashley can be found playing video games, cooking, planning her next karaoke debut song, tweeting at @ashley_rayner, or hanging out with her husband and two kids. 

 


 

   

Micahel Rodriguez (he/him) is a senior strategist at Lyrasis, a community-supported nonprofit whose mission is to support enduring access to our shared academic, scientific, and cultural heritage. Michael has worked in public and academic libraries and consortia for more than 10 years and recently served as president of the New England Chapter of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL).

 

 
   

Anjelica Rufus-Barnes (she/her) is a reference librarian at Prospect Heights Public Library District (IL) where she selects the world languages and TV/movies collections. She reviews performing arts, social sciences, and audiobooks for Library Journal and is a 2023 Reviewer of the Year. She co-chairs the Illinois Library Association Diversity Committee and is a member of the American Library Association (ALA) Rainbow Round Table Over the Rainbow Book List Committee. Anjelica received a Master of Library and Information Science from Dominican University and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Roosevelt University.

 
 
  
 
    Eva Stano is the Collection Strategist for the University of Iowa Libraries, performing collection assessment and data analysis. Formerly, she was the Collection Development and Electronic Resources Librarian at Ball State University, selecting nonfiction academic materials for various departments as well as the bestseller collection of popular fiction and nonfiction titles. She has been a book reviewer for Library Journal since November 2014.  

 
    Henrietta Thornton, formerly LJ’s Reviews Editor, is a librarian and the author of How to Get Your Book into Libraries and Reviews Are In. She is also a cofounder and coauthor of firstCLUE (firstcluereviews.com), a free weekly newsletter that reviews mysteries and thrillers as far in advance of publication as possible.  
         
         
 

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