Here at HEC, we’ve had the opportunity to meet some pretty incredible authors and sit down with them to talk about their latest works, what inspires them, and what makes them tick. Below are a couple of our favorites, perfect to catch up on while the snow and ice are keeping you indoors!

These interviews were conducted in partnership with Left Bank Books, St. Louis County Library, and Maryville University.

The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide

Jenna Fischer

Jenna Fischer’s Hollywood journey began at the age of 22 when she moved to Los Angeles from her hometown of St. Louis. With a theater degree in hand, she was determined, she was confident, she was ready to work hard. So, what could go wrong?

Purchase, here or visit your neighborhood library.

The View From Flyover Country: Dispatches From the Forgotten America

Sarah Kendzior

A clear-eyed account of the realities of life in America’s overlooked heartland, The View from Flyover Country is a piercing critique of the labor exploitation, race relations, gentrification, media bias, and other aspects of the post-employment economy that gave rise to a president who rules like an autocrat. The View from Flyover Country is necessary reading for anyone who believes that the only way for America to fix its problems is to first discuss them with honesty and compassion.

Purchase, here or visit your neighborhood library.

My Dear Hamilton

Stephanie Dray, Laura Kamoie

From the New York Times bestselling authors of America’s First Daughter comes the epic story of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton–a revolutionary woman who, like her new nation, struggled to define herself in the wake of war, betrayal, and tragedy. In this haunting, moving, and beautifully written novel, Dray and Kamoie used thousands of letters and original sources to tell Eliza’s story as it’s never been told before–not just as the wronged wife at the center of a political sex scandal–but also as a founding mother who shaped an American legacy in her own right.

Purchase, here or visit your neighborhood library.

Enemies in Love: A German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance

Alexis Clark

Based on a New York Times story by Alexis Clark that drew national attention, Enemies in Love paints a tableau of dreams deferred and of love struggling to survive, twenty-five years before the Supreme Court’s Loving decision legalizing mixed-race marriage—revealing the surprising possibilities for human connection during one of history’s most violent conflicts.

Purchase, here or visit your neighborhood library.

What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Here is the inspiring story of how Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, alongside a team of researchers, parents, friends, and community leaders, discovered that the children of Flint, Michigan, were being exposed to lead in their tap water—and then battled her own government and a brutal backlash to expose that truth to the world. Paced like a scientific thriller, What the Eyes Don’t See reveals how misguided austerity policies, broken democracy, and callous bureaucratic indifference placed an entire city at risk. And at the center of the story is Dr. Mona herself—an immigrant, doctor, scientist, and mother whose family’s activist roots inspired her pursuit of justice.

Purchase, here or visit your neighborhood library.

Louisiana’s Way Home

Kate DiCamillo

Called “one of DiCamillo’s most singular and arresting creations” by The New York Times Book Review, the heartbreakingly irresistible Louisiana Elefante was introduced to readers in Raymie Nightingale — and now, with humor and tenderness, Kate DiCamillo returns to tell her story.

Purchase, here or visit your neighborhood library.