Spy, thriller novelist to speak in Iowa City Monday

Award-winning author Joseph Kanon of New York will read from and talk about his new thriller 'Leaving Berlin” at a special event moderated by Tim Budd at 7 p.m. Monday at Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City.

Kanon, who received the Edgar Award for best first novel for 'Los Alamos,” also is the author of 'Istanbul Passage,” 'The Prodigal Spy,” 'Alibi,” 'Stardust” and 'The Good German,” which was made into a major motion picture.

If you go

Joseph Kanon, 7 p.m. Monday at Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City.

TUESDAY

Max Winter & Lisa Lubasch, 7 p.m. at Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Writers' Workshop graduates Max Winter and Lisa Lubasch will read from their most recent books of poetry. Winter is the author of 'The Pictures” and most recently, 'Walking Among Them,” published by Subpress. Lubasch is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently 'So I Began,” published by Solid Objects. Her previous books are 'Twenty-One After Days” (Avec Books), 'To Tell the Lamp,” 'Vicinities,” and 'How Many More of Them Are You?”

Science Fiction/Fantasy Book Group, 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Bookseller, 333 Collins Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids. Discuss 'The Outsorcerer's Apprentice” by Tom Holt.

Book Lovers Club, 7 p.m. at Ladd Library, 3750 Williams Blvd. SW, Cedar Rapids. Discuss 'Still Alice” by Lisa Genova.

WEDNESDAY

Patrick Hicks, 7 p.m. at Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Hicks will read from his new book of short stories, 'The Collector of Names.” The first story in the collection, '57 Gatwick,” about a terrorist bombing of a commercial airline over the City of Duluth, won the Glimmer Train Emerging Writer Fiction award. The stories in this collection explore dark situations and acknowledge mortality but more importantly show the strength of the human spirit and the unexpected gifts that life presents. Hicks is the author of 'The Commandant of Lubizec” and several poetry collections.

It's a Mystery Book Group, 10 a.m. to noon at the Coralville Public Library, 1401 Fifth St., Coralville. Discuss 'Dare Me” by Megan Abbott.

THURSDAY

Charles Baxter, 7 p.m. at Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Master of the contemporary short story, Charles Baxter will read from his new collection, 'There's Something I Want You to Do.” Baxter is the author of five novels, five collections of short stories, three collections of poems, and two collections of essays on fiction. His novel 'The Feast of Love” was nominated for the National Book Award. A Guggenheim fellow, and a finalist for the National Book Award, Baxter is a former visiting faculty member of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He teaches at the University of Minnesota and in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

Graphic Novel Discussion Group, 7 p.m. Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Coral Ridge Mall, 1451 Coral Ridge Ave., Coralville. Discuss 'Rat Queens, Volume 1: Sass & Sorcery” by Kurtis Wiebe.

The History Club, 3:30 to 5 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 90 10th St., Marion. Discuss 'Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman” by Robert Massie.

FRIDAY

Kyle McCord, Hannah Gamble & Rich Smith, 7 p.m. Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. Poets Hannah Gamble, Rich Smith and Kyle McCord will read from their new work. Gamble wrote 'Your Invitation to a Modest Breakfast.” Smith is the author of 'All Talk.” McCord is the author of five books of poetry including 'You are Indeed an Elk, But This is Not the Forest You Were Born to Graze” and 'Gentle, World, Gentler.”

SATURDAY

Ladd Library Book Club, 3:30 p.m. at the Ladd Library, 3750 Williams Blvd. SW, Cedar Rapids. Discuss '33 Men” by Jonathan Franklin.