Library rounds up writers for daylong celebration
Bookstock to feature Eric Jerome Dickey
1. The King by J. R. Ward (New American Library). Book 12 of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. 2. I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark (Simon & Schuster). The producer of a true-crime show must contend with participants with secrets as well as her husband’s murderer. 3. NYPD Red 2 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp (Little, Brown). Detective Zach Jordan and his partner are called when the body of a wealthy woman is discovered on the Central Park carousel; the second book in a new series. 4. Missing You by Harlan Coben (Dutton). Kat Donovan, an N.Y.P.D. detective, searches for the ex-fiancé who left her years before; her father’s murderer; and the reason the users of an online dating site are disappearing. 5. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown). A painting smuggled out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art after a bombing becomes a boy’s prize, guilt and burden. 6. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Viking). The relationship between a wealthy Charleston girl, Sarah Grimké, who will grow up to become a prominent abolitionist, and the slave she is given for her 11th birthday. 7. by Donna Leon (Atlantic Monthly Press). Commissario Guido Brunetti investigates the theft of books from a library and the murder of one of its patrons. 8. Destroyer Angel by Nevada Barr (St. Martin’s). The National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon must rescue friends who are kidnapped while camping in Minnesota. 9. Power Play by Danielle Steel (Delacorte). Two C.E.O.s — a man and a woman — face very different challenges. 10. Be Careful What You Wish For by Jeffrey Archer (St. Martin’s). The Clifton Chronicles reach the 1960s in the fourth volume of the series. 1. Flash Boys by Michael Lewis (Norton). The world of highfrequency computer-driven trading, from the author of “Liar’s Poker.” 2. Don’t Hurt People and Don’t Take Their Stuff by Matt Kibbe (Morrow/HarperCollins). A libertarian manifesto by the president and C.E.O. of FreedomWorks. 3. Thrive by Arianna Huffington (Harmony). Personal wellbeing as the indispensable third measure — after money and power — of success. 4. 10% Happier by Dan Harris (It Books). A co-anchor of “Nightline” reports on the science and spiritual basis of meditation, and describes how it has improved his life. 5. A Call to Action by Jimmy Carter (Simon & Schuster). The former president denounces discrimination and violence against women. 6. The Women of Duck Commander by Kay Robertson and others with Beth Clark (Howard Books). Kay, Korie, Missy, Jessica and Lisa Robertson, the wives of the A&E show “Duck Dynasty,” discuss their marriages, families and faith. 7. Not Cool by Greg Gutfeld (Crown Forum). The Fox News Channel host, author of “The Joy of Hate,” denounces the hipster elite and their pop cultural dominance. 8. Uganda Be Kidding Me by Chelsea Handler (Grand Central). Humorous travel stories. 9. Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (Holt). Jesus’ life and times, and the events leading up to his execution. 10. David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown). How disadvantages can work in our favor. 1. The Doctor’s Diet by Travis Stork (Bird Street). A flexible diet program aimed at health and weight loss. 2. The Hungry Girl Diet by Lisa Lillien (St. Martin’s). A fourweek, jump-start weight-loss plan. 3. The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (Northfield). How to communicate love in a way a spouse will understand. 4. Four Blood Moons by John Hagee (Worthy Publishing). Coming blood moon eclipses and what they might mean for the world. 5. Grain Brain by David Perlmutter with Kristin Loberg (Little, Brown). The deleterious effect of carbohydrates on the brain, and how to reverse it. 1. Shadow Spell by Nora Roberts (Berkley). In County Mayo, Ireland, a falconer with an unresolved past falls for his sister’s beguiling best friend; Book 2 of the Cousins O’Dwyer trilogy. 2. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (Morrow/ HarperCollins). A historical novel about orphans swept off the streets of New York and sent to the Midwest in the 1920s. 3. King and Maxwell by David Baldacci (Grand Central). Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, former Secret Service agents turned private investigators, scrutinize the report of a soldier’s mysterious death in Afghanistan. 4. Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts (Berkley). After being accused of — but never arrested for — the murder of his wife, a Boston lawyer retreats to his family’s ancestral home in New England. 5. The Last Bride by Beverly Lewis (Bethany House). After eloping, Tessie and Marcus return to the Old Order Amish world of Hickory Hollow, trusting they’ll persuade Tessie’s family to give their love a chance over time. 6. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperOne). In this fable, a Spanish shepherd boy ventures to Egypt in search of treasure and his destiny. 7. Four Friends by Robyn Carr (Harlequin Mira). A reserved newcomer to Mill Valley opens up to a group of women in her neighborhood — and, in the process, helps them discover their true selves. 8. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (Penguin). A young woman who has barely been farther afield than her English village finds herself while caring for a wealthy, embittered quadriplegic. 9. Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James (Vintage). An inexperienced college student falls in love with a tortured man who has particular sexual tastes; the first book in a trilogy. 10. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Anchor). Young and in love, Ifemelu and Obinze leave military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Ifemelu finds academic success in America, while Obinze plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. 1. Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent ( Thomas Nelson). A boy’s encounter with Jesus and the angels. 2. Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson (Back Bay/Little, Brown). A harrowing Navy SEALs operation. 3. Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander (Simon & Schuster, $15.99). A neurosurgeon’s journey into the afterlife. 4. The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter (Little, Brown). Following an Allied group who recovered stolen artworks from the Nazis. 5. Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan (Simon & Schuster). A young reporter suddenly experiences seizures, hallucinations and near catatonia. 6. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (Random House). A reporter for The New York Times presents the science behind how we form, and break, habits. 7. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay/Little, Brown, $16.99). Why some people succeed. 8. Quiet by Susan Cain (Broadway, $16). Introverts — one-third of the population — are undervalued in American society. 9. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). The winner of a Nobel in economic science discusses how we make choices in business and personal life. 10. Wild by Cheryl Strayed (Vintage). A life-changing hike along the Pacific Crest Trail.
Eric Jerome Dickey, whose thrillers often feature an amorous adventuress as narrator, returns to his hometown Saturday to deliver the keynote address at the Memphis Public Library’s Bookstock 2014.
On April 15, Dickey released his 21st novel, “A Wanted Woman” (Dutton Adult, $26.95), in which a super-assassin and “woman of a thousand faces” embarks on a voyage of self- discovery in Barbados.
“With almost a dozen books that have consistently made The New York Times Bestseller List, Eric Jerome Dickey is one of the most popular writers of contemporary urban fiction in the nation,” said Wang-Ying Glasgow, the library’s adult services coordinator and Bookstock organizer. A decade ago, in a profile of Dickey under the headline “ChickLit King Imagines His Way Into Women’s Heads,” The New York Times, quoting his publisher, said Dickey was selling more than 500,000 books a year.
Dickey, 52, grew up on Kansas Street in southwest Memphis and graduated from Carver High School, then got a degree in computer technology from then Memphis State University before moving to Los Angeles and beginning a career in writing.
Glasgow said Bookstock is designed “to promote local authors as well as to cast a wider net” to explore a variety of genres. On goodreads.com, one early review of Dickey’s latest novel said, “There was a plethora of suspense, violence, gore, and the blood f lowed freely.” Another checked “the steamy sex scenes,” but found “scenes of torture and gang raping” disturbing. Glasgow noted that Dickey’s keynote talk will be announced over the library’s intercom as an event for adult audiences.
Dickey’s talk from 1 to 2 p.m. will be followed at 2:15 p.m. by “Summertime Is Crime Time.” Authors on that panel include Megan Abbott, whose novel “Dare Me” was one of Amazon’s Best Books of 2012; Ace Atkins, the Oxford, Miss.-based author who will publish both “The Forsaken” and “Robert B. Parker’s Cheap Shot” this year; Michael Kardos, codirector of the creative writing program at Mississippi State University and author of “The Three-Day Affair”; and Scott Phillips, whose debut novel “The Ice Harvest” was the basis for a movie directed by Harold Ramis and starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton.
A panel at 11 a.m. will focus on international spy thrillers. “From the South to Around the World” will feature Dickey and Mark Greaney, the Memphisbased author who has written four books in a series of thrillers about ex- CIA- a gent- t urnedassassin Court Gentry, The Gray Man. Greaney’s lastest Court Gentry book, “Dead Eye,” was published in December, on the same day his third book written with the late Tom Clancy was released. Greaney’s collaborations with Clancy include “Locked On,” “Threat Vector” and “Command Authority” (Putnam, $29.95). Also on the panel is Keith Thomson, whose novels include “Once a Spy” and “7 Grams of Lead.”
Deborah Johnson, who wrote “The Air Between Us” and “The Secret of Magic,” will be interviewed for the library’s “Book Talk” program by Stephen Usery at 11:30 a.m.
“True Memphis Stories” will spotlight local authors Miriam DeCosta-Willis, Wei Chen, Dan Conaway, Marie Pizano and Blanche Jordan Scott at 11 a.m. in the library’s Memphis Room. G. Wayne Dowdy, manager of the library’s history department and author of “On This Day in Memphis History,” will moderate.
Other local authors on the schedule include Vincent Astor (“Images of America: Memphis Movie Theatres”), Wei Chen (“Around the World in 69 days”) and Barry Wolverton, whose “Neversink” for young readers was one of the Literacy Mid-South 2014 “Books of Choice.”
Along with books and authors, visitors at the event will find cooking