JLR Book & Author Preview

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner!

The Junior League of Richmond’s 69th Book & Author Event, presented by Dominion Resources, Inc., will hold its annual Dinner on Wednesday, April 30, 2014 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. The honored authors for the 2014 Event are Corban Addison, Lolis Eric Elie, Dan Harris, Daniel Jones, Jen Lancaster, James Swanson, and Carol Wall. Bob Deans, noted author featured at the 62nd Book & Author Dinner, will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the longest-running dinner of its kind in the country.

Go to www.bookandauthordinner.org to learn more about these books and authors, make your reservation, and buy books. Pre-autographed copies are available for purchase and pick-up at the Dinner or can be shipped to your home.

And now, turn the page for previews of our authors!

Corban Addison, “The Garden of Burning Sand” Combining his three great passions—storytelling, human rights, and exotic locales— Corban Addison, the bestselling author of A Walk Across the Sun, returns with The Garden of Burning Sand, a powerful and poignant novel that takes the reader from the red light areas of Lusaka, Zambia, to the gilded chambers of the Washington, D.C. elite, to the splendor of Victoria Falls and Cape Town.

An accomplished young human rights lawyer, Zoe Fleming has made a life for herself in Zambia, far from her estranged father, a business mogul with presidential aspiration, and from the devastating betrayals of her past.

When a girl with Down syndrome is sexually assaulted in a Lusaka slum, Zoe demands justice. Determined to see the case through, she joins Zambian police officer Joseph Zabuta in investigating the rape. Piecing together clues from the victim’s past, they discover a violent connection between the girl, Kuyeya, and a powerful Zambian family that will stop at nothing to bury the truth.

As Zoe and Joseph are drawn deeper into the complex web of characters behind this sinister crime, they forge a bond of friendship that slowly transforms into love. Thwarted at every turn, they find themselves caught in a great clash between the forces of justice and power. To vindicate Kuyeya and build a future with Joseph, Zoe must risk her life and her heart, and confront the past she thought she left behind.

Corban Addison is the author of the international bestselling novels, A Walk Across the Sun and The Garden of Burning Sand, which address international human rights issues within the framework of deeply researched and compelling human stories. An attorney, activist, and world traveler, he is a supporter of numerous humanitarian causes, including the abolition of modern slavery, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS. He lives with his wife and children in Virginia.

Release Date: March 26, 2013

Lolis Eric Elie, “Treme: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans” Inspired by David Simon's award-winning HBO series Treme, this celebration of the culinary spirit of post-Katrina New Orleans features recipes and tributes from the characters, real and fictional, who highlight the Crescent City's rich foodways. From chef Janette Desautel's own Crawfish Ravioli and LaDonna Batiste-Williams's Smothered Turnip Soup to the city's finest Sazerac, New Orleans' cuisine is a mélange of influences from Creole to Vietnamese, at once new and old, genteel and down-home, and, in the words of Toni Bernette, "seasoned with delicious nostalgia." As visually rich as the series itself, the book includes 100 heritage and contemporary recipes from the city's heralded restaurants such as Upperline, Bayona, Restaurant August, and Herbsaint, plus original recipes from renowned chefs Eric Ripert, David Chang, and other Treme guest stars. For the 6 million who come to New Orleans each year for its food and music, this is the ultimate homage to the traditions that make it one of the world's greatest cities.

Lolis Eric Elie is a New Orleans born, Los Angeles based writer and filmmaker. Most recently, he joined the writing staff of the AMC television show, Hell on Wheels. Before that, he wrote for the HBO series Treme. Working with the award-winning director Dawn Logsdon, he co- produced and wrote the PBS documentary, Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans. His essay, “America’s Greatest Hits,” is included in Best African American Essays: 2009.

A former columnist for The Times-Picayune, he is the author of Smokestack Lightning: Adventures in the Heart of Barbecue Country and co-producer and writer of Smokestack Lightning: A Day in the Life of Barbecue, the documentary based on that book. He is editor of Cornbread Nation 2: The Best of Southern Food Writing.

A contributing writer to The Oxford American, his work has appeared in Gourmet, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Downbeat and The San Francisco Chronicle.

Release Date: July 24, 2013

Dan Harris, “10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works— A True Story” Nightline anchor Dan Harris embarks on an unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help, and discovers a way to get happier that is truly achievable.

After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his onair freak-out.

We all have a voice in our head. It’s what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we’re not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us would assume we’re stuck with this voice – that there’s nothing we can do to rein it in – but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that. It’s a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the selfhelp swamis he met; instead, it’s something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness.

10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.

Dan Harris is a correspondent for ABC News and the co-anchor for the weekend edition of Good Morning America. Before that, he was the anchor of the Sunday edition of World News. He regularly contributes stories for such shows as Nightline, 20/20, World News with Diane Sawyer and GMA. Harris has reported from all over the planet, covering wars in Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine and Iraq, and producing investigative reports in Haiti, Cambodia, and the Congo. He has also spent many years covering America's faith scene, with a focus on evangelicals -- who have treated him kindly despite the fact that he is openly agnostic. He has been at ABC News for 13 years. Before that, he was in local news in Boston and Maine. He grew up outside of Boston and currently lives with his wife, Bianca, in New York City.

Release Date: March 11, 2014

Daniel Jones, “Love Illuminated: Exploring Life’s Most Mystifying Subject (With the Help of 50,000 Strangers)” From the editor of the New York Times' popular "Modern Love" column, the story of love from beginning to end (or not).

Love. We want it. We need it. We pay it homage with songs and poems and great works of art. And when we lose it, there's no pain as intense or excruciating. For centuries we've been trying to figure it out, control it, or just get better at it. As the editor of a column about love for the New York Times, Daniel Jones reads thousands of stories about people's intimate relationships—the ones that soar, crash, or hum along, from the bizarre to the supposedly “normal.” It's possible that he's read more true love stories than anyone on earth. In Love Illuminated, he teases apart this mystifying emotion that thrills, crushes, and sustains.

Drawing from the 50,000 stories that have crossed his desk over the past decade, Jones explores ten aspects of love—pursuit, destiny, vulnerability, connection, trust, practicality, monotony, infidelity, loyalty, and wisdom—and creates a lively, funny and enlightening journey through this universal human experience that jangles the head and stirs the heart.

Daniel Jones has edited the "Modern Love" column in the Sunday Styles section of The New York Times since its inception in October, 2004. His books include two essay anthologies, Modern Love and The Bastard on the Couch, and a novel, After Lucy, which was a finalist for the Barnes and Noble Discover Award. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Elle, Parade, Real Simple, Redbook, and elsewhere. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with his wife, writer Cathi Hanauer, and their two children.

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Jen Lancaster, “Twisted Sisters” New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster is “as adept at fiction as she is at telling her own stories” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). And now in her new novel, reality gets an unreal makeover…

Reagan Bishop is a pusher. A licensed psychologist who stars on the Wendy Winsberg cable breakout show I Need a Push, Reagan helps participants become their best selves by urging them to overcome obstacles and change behaviors. An overachiever, Reagan is used to delivering results.

Despite her overwhelming professional success, Reagan never seems to earn her family’s respect. Her younger sister, Geri, is and always will be the Bishop family favorite. When a national network buys Reagan’s show, the pressures for unreasonably quick results and higher ratings mount. But Reagan’s a clinician, not a magician, and fears witnessing her own personal failings in prime time. (And seriously? Her family will never let her hear the end of it.) Desperate to make the show work and keep her family at bay, Reagan actually listens when the show’s New Age healer offers an unconventional solution…

Record Nielsen ratings follow. But when Reagan decides to use her newfound power to teach everyone a lesson about sibling rivalry, she’s the one who will be schooled…

Jen Lancaster is a former vice president at an investor relations firm and a New York Times bestselling author.

Release Date: February 4, 2014

James Swanson , “End of Days: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy” In End of Days, James L. Swanson, the New York Times bestselling author of Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, brings to life the minute-by-minute details of the JFK assassination—from the Kennedys' arrival in Texas through the shooting in Dealey Plaza and the shocking aftermath that continues to reverberate in our national consciousness fifty years later.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, has been the subject of enduring debate, speculation, and numerous conspiracy theories, but Swanson's absorbing and complete account follows the event hour-by-hour, from the moment Lee Harvey Oswald conceived of the crime three days before its execution, to his own murder two days later at a Dallas Police precinct at the hands of Jack Ruby, a two-bit nightclub owner.

Based on sweeping research never before collected so powerfully in a single volume, and illustrated with photographs, End of Days distills Kennedy's assassination into a pulsepounding thriller that is sure to become the definitive popular account of this historic crime for years to come.

James L. Swanson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Manhunt: The 12Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. He is an attorney who has written about history, the Constitution, popular culture, and other subjects for a variety of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, American Heritage, Smithsonian, and the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Swanson serves on the advisory council of the Ford's Theatre Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Campaign and is a member of the advisory committee of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.

Release Date: November 12, 2013

Carol Wall, “Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart” A true story of a unique friendship between two people who had nothing—and ultimately everything—in common.

Carol Wall, a white woman living in a lily-white neighborhood in Middle America, was at a crossroads in her life. Her children were grown; she had successfully overcome illness; her beloved parents were getting older. One day she notices a dark-skinned African man tending her neighbor’s yard. His name is Giles Owita. He bags groceries at the supermarket. He comes from Kenya. And he’s very good at gardening.

Before long Giles is transforming not only Carol’s yard, but her life. Though they are seemingly quite different, a caring bond grows between them. But they both hold longburied secrets that, when revealed, will cement their friendship forever.

A graduate of Peabody College for Teachers at Vanderbilt University, Carol Wall has taught high school English in both public and private schools in Tennessee and Virginia.

Carol Wall’s articles and essays centering on family life have been popular features in publications such as Southern Living Magazine and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for more than twenty years. An accomplished public speaker, Carol served as Writer-inResidence for Roanoke County Schools, where high school audiences learned to look forward to her entertaining and engaging presentations. Beginning in 1973, with her first teaching job at East High School in Nashville, TN—Oprah Winfrey’s alma mater—Carol has been known for her ability to connect with listeners, sharing her passion for storytelling and eagerly reaching out to include even the most reluctant student.

Whether she’s describing the culinary exploits of her husband—a “binge cooker”—or detailing the day her little beagle Rhudy was banished from an exclusive spa for dogs, she brings a trademark wit and liveliness to ordinary subjects.

Her professional life has unfolded against the backdrop of a busy household where the Walls’ three children were joined by a teenage foster son and exchange students from Lithuania and Croatia.

Carol is active in the P.E.O. Sisterhood, a philanthropic educational organization which boasts 250,000 members worldwide and provides college scholarships for women. She sings second soprano in an eight-member women’s ensemble at her church.

She and her husband have three grown children, three beautiful granddaughters, and a grandson. They make their home in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Carol has been battling Stage 4 breast cancer since 2008. Mister Owita’s Guide to Gardening is her first book.

Release Date: March 4, 2014