What’s your favorite book? There are as many answers as there are people! From a cookbook to a murder mystery, historical non-fiction to dramatic science fiction. Your reading list is probably different from your best friend, your spouse, even those in your book club.
The good news is at this year’s Verse & Vino, there will be something for everyone. The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation’s signature annual fundraiser benefitting Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is back with a live streaming event, paired with a few in-person options. This celebration of reading, writing and the joy of libraries – shared with a community of readers and New York Times best-selling authors – has become one of the region’s most anticipated events.
FIVE, yes FIVE, New York Times best-selling authors will participate. Representing a range of genres and continents, each will share insights into their best-selling titles and hot-off-the-presses new releases – and your ticket includes your choice of one of the authors’ newest books.
Here’s a sneak peek at Verse & Vino 2021 Featured Authors, and what you can expect to hear from them on November 4th.
Verse & Vino 2021 Featured Authors Include:
Author: Janet Evanovich
What You Know Her For: Author of the Stephanie Plum novels
New Release: Game On
Born: South River, New Jersey
Over the last twenty-five years, Janet Evanovich has written a staggering 24 #1 New York Times bestsellers in the Stephanie Plum series. In addition to the Plum novels, Janet has co-authored the New York Times bestselling Fox and O’Hare series, the Knight and Moon series, the Lizzy and Diesel series, the Alexandra Barnaby novels, and the graphic novel, Troublemaker (with her daughter, Alex Evanovich).
Her new release, Game On, is her 28th book in the widely popular Stephanie Plum series, featuring a master cyber-criminal operating out of Trenton, NJ and the now infamous bounty hunter that is Stephanie Blue. This is yet again another page-turner where it is never a dull moment for the reader.
Author: Alka Joshi
What You Know Her For: The Henna Artist
New Release: The Secret Keeper of Jaipur
Born: India
Alka Joshi was born in India and raised in the U.S. since the age of nine. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. At age 62, Joshi published her debut novel, The Henna Artist, which immediately became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and is being developed into an episodic series by Miramax TV.
Joshi’s latest new release and sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, exposes corruption and blackmarket dealings in 1969 India.
Author: Alex Michaelides
What You Know Him For: The Silent Patient
New Release: The Maidens
Born: Cyprus (currently lives in London)
Alex Michaelides has an M.A. in English literature from Trinity College, Cambridge University, and an M.A. in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. The Silent Patient was his first novel and spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list and sold in a record-breaking 50 countries.
Michaelides’ latest release, The Maidens, revolves around the murder of a college student at Oxford, her mysterious professor and his exclusive study group of beautiful young women called “the maidens.” With plenty of twists and turns, this is an instant favorite for thrill seekers.
Author: Heather Morris
What You Know Her For: The Tattooist of Auschwitz
New Release: Three Sisters
Born: New Zealand (currently lives in Australia)
While working in a hospital in Melbourne, Heather Morris studied and wrote screenplays, one of which was optioned by an Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the US. In 2003, she met Lale Sokolov, who “might have a story worth telling”. Lale entrusted the innermost details of his life during the Holocaust to her. Heather originally wrote his story as a screenplay – before reshaping it into her debut novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. She is also the author of Cilka’s Journey.
With over eight million copies sold worldwide of her previous novels, Morris debuts Three Sisters – the courageous story of sisters who reunite in Auschwitz-Birkenau, where they keep a promise, they made to their father, to stay together and survive.
Author: Bryant Terry
What You Know Him For: Vegetable Kingdom
New Release: Black Food
Born: Memphis, TN (Current lives in Oakland, CA)
Bryant Terry is an NAACP Image Award winner and a James Beard Award-winning chef and educator and the author of Afro-Vegan and Vegetable Kingdom. He is renowned for his activism and efforts to create a healthy, equitable, and sustainable food system. He is currently the chef-in-residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, where he creates programming that celebrates the intersection of food, farming, health, activism, art and culture.
Terry’s latest release, Black Food, is a heartfelt tribute to Black culinary ingenuity. This groundbreaking book includes contributions from more than 100 Black cultural luminaries from around the globe, and explores the interweaving of food, experience and community through original poetry and essays. With arresting artwork and innovative design, Black Food is a visual and spiritual feast that will satisfy any soul.
How Can You Participate?
Benefiting the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, Verse & Vino tickets are on sale now, and include a variety of options for participation – from elegant date night meals to party boxes and even a viewing event at Town Brewing Co, where a new CommonSpark beer will debut.
So read up, make a plan, and save November 4 for Verse & Vino – an evening of celebration, laughter and community where there will be something for EVERYONE to enjoy.
This year, Verse & Vino is part of a November to Remember as the Community bids farewell to the current Main Library and welcomes construction of the new Main Library.
