luncheon with the authors 2025
The Society of the Arts (SOTA) proudly presents its thirteenth annual fundraising event Luncheon with the Authors on October 16, 2024. The event will be held at Renaissance Hotel Allentown.
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Three nationally-acclaimed authors will share remarks, participate in a panel discussion, and sign books for attendees.
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SOTA's Luncheon with the Authors gives the public an excellent opportunity to participate in an engaging discussion by three authors about their books, meet and speak personally with them, and pose questions during the panel discussion.
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The SOTA “Luncheon With The Authors” Committee members spend months reading nearly two dozen books before deciding on the three authors, basing their choices not only on the authors' storytelling abilities, but also on how they would be as a panelist in providing a lively discussion with the event attendees.
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Luncheon With The Authors benefits educational programs at the Allentown Art Museum, the SOTA Print Fund and the SOTA Education Endowment. Books purchased through SOTA also benefit the Allentown Art Museum.
Don't miss:
Cocktails with the Authors
Cocktails with the Authors
October 15, 2025 | 6-8PM
Allentown Art Museum
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SOTA is excited to continue our exciting evening event, Cocktails the Authors! This exclusive happy hour is the perfect opportunity for our guests who cannot make a daytime event or simply want to mingle with our authors in casual but intimate setting. Limited to only fifty guests, Cocktails with the Authors offers one-on-one time with our featured authors, book signings, a docent-led tour at the Allentown Art Museum, small bites, and delicious drinks.
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Don't miss out on this unique opportunity!
The details
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Luncheon with the Authors 2025 will be held
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Thursday, October 16, 2025 from 11am to 3pm​.
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The event will be held at Renaissance Allentown Hotel in downtown Allentown.
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Cocktails with the Authors will be held Wednesday, October 15, 2025 from 6-8 PM at the Allentown Art Museum.
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No physical ticket will be delivered to purchaser. Purchaser and guest names will be at event check-in. Please visit the registration desk upon entry.
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Ticket Sales begin August 1
Thank you to our sponsors!
We deeply appreciate your generous support for the Luncheon with the Authors, which has made this event possible and more impactful.
Your commitment to our community is truly invaluable. Thank you for being an essential part of this memorable experience!
the authors
Adriana allegri
The Sunflower House
In a sleepy German village, Allina Strauss’s life seems idyllic: she works at her uncle’s bookshop, makes strudel with her aunt, and spends weekends with her friends and fiancé. But it’s 1939, Adolf Hitler is Chancellor, and Allina’s family hides a terrifying secret―her birth mother was Jewish, making her a Mischling.
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One fateful night after losing everyone she loves, Allina is forced into service as a nurse at a state-run baby factory called Hochland Home. There, she becomes both witness and participant to the horrors of Heinrich Himmler’s ruthless eugenics program.
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The Sunflower House is a meticulously-researched debut historical novel that uncovers the notorious Lebensborn Program of Nazi Germany. Women of “pure” blood stayed in Lebensborn homes for the sole purpose of perpetuating the Aryan population, giving birth to thousands of babies who were adopted out to “good” Nazi families. Allina must keep her Jewish identity a secret in order to survive, but when she discovers the neglect occurring within the home, she’s determined not only to save herself, but also the children in her care.
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A tale of one woman’s determination to resist and survive, The Sunflower House is also a love story. When Allina meets Karl, a high-ranking SS officer with secrets of his own, the two must decide how much they are willing to share with each other―and how much they can stand to risk as they join forces to save as many children as they can. The threads of this poignant and heartrending novel weave a tale of loss and love, friendship and betrayal, and the secrets we bury in order to save ourselves.
Shelley Noble is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of sixteen novels of historical fiction, historical mystery and contemporary women's fiction, including The Tiffany Girls, Ask Me No Questions, and Whisper Beach.
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Adriana Allegri is a first-generation American whose parents lived in Europe before, during, and after World War II. She grew up on stories about how small acts of compassion saved lives, a theme that shows up in everything she writes, regardless of genre. A former high school teacher and educational program administrator, Adriana also served as a writer and project manager for a leading data analytics company. She spent fifteen years in the New York metro area but is happily relocated in Chandler, Arizona with two ornery rescue cats. When not at the keyboard, she enjoys painting, cooking, jewelry-making, antiquing, travel, and, of course, curling up with a favorite read.
Alison Gaylin
We Are Watching
Sometimes the world is out to get you.
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Meg Russo was behind the wheel when it happened. She and her husband Justin were driving their daughter Lily to Ithaca College, the family celebrating the eighteen-year-old music prodigy’s future. Then a car swerved up beside them, the young men inside it behaving bizarrely—and Meg lost control of her own vehicle. The family road trip turned into a tragedy. Justin didn’t survive the accident.
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Four months later, Meg works to distract herself from her grief and guilt, reopening her small local bookstore. But soon after she returns to work, bizarre messages and visitors begin to arrive, with strangers threatening Meg and Lily in increasingly terrifying ways. They are obsessed with a young adult novel titled The Prophesy, which was published thirty years earlier. An online group of believers are convinced that it heralds the apocalypse, and social media posts link the book—and Meg’s reclusive musician father—to Satanism. These conspiracy theorists vow to seek revenge on The Prophesy’s author...Meg.
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As the threats turn violent, Meg begins to suspect that Justin’s death may not have been an accident. To find answers and save her daughter, her father, and herself, Meg must get to the root of these dangerous lies—and find a way to face the believers head-on … before it’s too late.
USA Today and international bestselling author Alison Gaylin has won the Edgar and Shamus awards. Her work has been published in the US, UK, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, Romania and Denmark, and she has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Macavity, Anthony, ITW Thriller and Strand Book Award. In addition to her novels, she has published many short stories and collaborated with Megan Abbott on the graphic novel Normandy Gold (Titan/Hard Case Crime, 2018)
Jason Rekulak
The Last One at the Wedding
It’s been three years since Frank last heard from his daughter, and he’s devastated by their long, unhappy estrangement...
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But then an unexpected phone call from Maggie changes everything: she’s getting married, and she wants her father to walk her down the aisle.
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Frank is overjoyed by the news. Here at last is a chance for reconciliation—a perfect opportunity to repair their fractured relationship.
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But a disturbing discovery about his future son-in-law leads Frank to wonder if Maggie is making a terrible mistake. And once he arrives at the wedding—an extravagant three-day affair set at a luxurious lakefront estate—the warning signs keep piling up.
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Can Frank unravel the truth about Maggie’s fiancé before it’s too late?
JASON REKULAK is the author of Hidden Pictures, a national bestseller and winner of a Goodreads Choice Award, and The Impossible Fortress, a finalist for the Edgar Award. He is represented by Doug Stewart at Sterling Lord Literistic, and by Rich Green and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein at The Gotham Group. He lives in Philadelphia with his family.
