Garry Kasparov spent twenty years as the world’s #1 ranked chess player. In 2005, he retired from professional chess to lead the pro-democracy opposition against Vladimir Putin, and ran for the presidency of Russia in 2008. In 2012, he was named chairman of the Human Rights Foundation, succeeding Václav Havel. He has been a contributing editor to The Wall Street Journal since 1991, and his 2007 book, How Life Imitates Chess, has been published in twenty-six languages. 

Mitch Albom is a bestselling author, screenwriter, playwright and nationally syndicated columnist. The author of six consecutive number one New York Times bestsellers—including Tuesdays with Morrie, the best-selling memoir of all time—his books have collectively sold more than 35 million copies in forty-two languages.  Recent books by Mitch Albom include: The Five People You Meet in Heaven, The First Phone Call From Heaven, The Time Keeper, Have a Little Faith and For One More Day.

Nigella Lawson, food enthusiast, television personality, and journalist, is the author of nine bestselling books including Nigella Kitchen, Nigella Fresh, Feast, Nigella Bites, How to Be a Domestic Goddess, and How to Eat.  She has a successful television series on Food Network, E! Entertainment Television, and Style and hosts The Taste with Anthony Bourdain, Ludo Lefebvre, and Brian Malarkey. 

Join us for an evening all about Whiskey. In The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Whiskey Know-it-All: Know Your Booze Before You Choose,  Richard Betts offers up a clever distillation of America’s favorite libation, in the follow-up to his immensely popular New York Times bestselling The Essential Scratch & Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert.

David Spade is an actor, comedian, and writer. A former cast member of Saturday Night Live, Spade has also starred in the films Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, and the Joe Dirt and Grown Ups franchises. He was nominated for an Emmy, two Golden Globes, and an American Comedy Award for his role on NBC’s Just Shoot Me! He also won a participation award for being in show business. That’s the one he’s most proud of. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Diana Nyad shares her amazing, inspiring firsthand account of her record-breaking swim, after four failed attempts, from Cuba to Florida, at the age of sixty-four–and of her extraordinary quest to live life at the highest level, in and out of the water.

Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University. In her new book, a brilliant exploration of our cosmic environment, the renowned particle physicist and New York Times bestselling author of Warped Passages and Knocking on Heaven’s Door uses her research into dark matter to illuminate the startling connections between the furthest reaches of space and life here on Earth.

Michael Anthony is the executive chef-partner of Gramercy Tavern, the executive chef and director of Untitled, and the author of The Gramercy Tavern Cookbook. He received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in the United States in 2015, after being named Best Chef, New York City, in 2012. V IS FOR VEGETABLES: Inspired Recipes & Techniques for Home Cooks—from Artichokes to Zucchini is his first stand-alone cookbook and includes a multitude of genius tips, helpful photographs, and exceptional recipes — all created in a home kitchen.

From the creators of the wildly popular Welcome to Night Vale podcast comes an imaginative mystery of appearances and disappearances that is also a poignant look at the ways in which we all struggle to find ourselves…no matter where we live.

Located in a nameless desert somewhere in the great American Southwest, Night Vale is a small town where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of everyday life. It is here that the lives of two women, with two mysteries, will converge.

Patricia Cornwell is one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the Creasey, the Anthony, the Macavity, and the Prix du Roman d’Aventure.  Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. 

Depraved Heart is the  latest novel in her bestselling series featuring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta.