It shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s a fan of Erik Larson’s books to learn that, if he’s not doing research, he reads fiction almost exclusively. As the sensational author of such heroically researched historical nonfiction works as “The Devil in the White City,” “In the Garden of Beasts,” “Isaac’s Storm” and his most recent, “The Splendid and the Vile,” Larson has done more “homework” than all the PhD candidates in every doctoral program in the country.

It can be, he says, “boring as hell.”

At the same time, reading all those novels serves a purpose beyond entertainment. His books read like whip-page thrillers and often serve as the most unlikely of beach books precisely because of that quality. “There’s a James Patterson. There’s a Lee Child. And, oh, there’s that Larson guy’s amazing, human and enlightening account of Churchill and his family in 1941 as the new Prime Minister led his country through the Nazi Blitz of London!” “Yep, I heard you can’t put it down!”

An artist who solidly supports literacy programs and libraries, Larson appears Saturday for “An Evening with Erik Larson” at the Mystic & Noank Library’s annual fundraiser. It takes place Saturday at Snediker Yacht Restoration in Old Mystic.

Erik Larson, 6-7 p.m. Saturday, Snediker Yacht Restoration, 35 Campground Road, Old Mystic; 2022 Annual Fundraiser for the Mystic & Noank Library; $100 includes drinks and hors d’ oeuvres; www.mystic.noanklibrary.org.