12 metro Atlanta author and book events to check out in November
Our picks for November’s author events include former first lady Jill Biden’s much-anticipated memoir, novels from Atlanta authors Lynn Cullen and Jessica Handler, and a historical novel by Ariel Lawhon inspired by a legendary Irish sea captain and folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people.
Lisa M. Stulberg, “How to Win a Culture War: LGBTQ+ Social Change Through Pop Culture.” Sociologist Stulberg argues that despite substantial barriers, creatives and athletes are changing American culture through their contributions to arts, sports and politics, working to win the culture war for LGBTQ+ social justice.
4 p.m. Saturday. Talk, signing. Free. A Cappella Books, 208 Haralson Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-681-5128, acappellabooks.com/events.
Jill Biden, “View from the East Wing.” Throughout her husband’s presidency, Biden remained an advocate for causes including women’s health, military families, vaccine awareness, cancer initiatives and education. She made history as the first first lady to hold a paid outside job while her husband was in office, continuing to work as a professor at a nearby community college.
8 p.m. Saturday. Talk, Q&A. $49.50 includes book. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta, 678-812-4000. atlantajcc.org.
Between the Thinking-Island and the Saying-Shore: Women Writing Against Taboo. This virtual discussion will focus on taboos around women’s bodies and behavior, identity and recognition, and faith and infidelity, and includes panelists Julia Cohen (“Freak Lip: Essays of the Unsaid”), Chloé Caldwell (“Trying: A Memoir”) and Lidia Yuknavitch (“Reading the Waves.)”
7:30 p.m. Monday. Panel discussion on Crowdcast. Free. charisbooksandmore.com/upcoming-events.
Karen Essex, “Run, Darling,” and Lynn Cullen, “When We Were Brilliant.” The gorgeous trio of Zsa Zsa, Eva and Magda Gabor once dominated gossip columns, TV and movie screens, talk shows and tabloids. Essex tells the story behind the glamour of this Jewish family’s shocking secrets, painful pasts and harrowing journey from Nazi-dominated Europe to America and from obscurity to celebrity.
Cullen’s novel captures the grit of two women determining their own futures as it explores the complicated friendship between Marilyn Monroe and documentary photographer Eve Arnold.
Noon. Tuesday, Nov. 10. Talk, Q&A, signing. $16.50-$21.50. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta, 678-812-4000. atlantajcc.org
Nicholas Reynolds and Katie S. Sanders, “Ortiz’s War.” Reynolds’ and Sanders’ book reveals the untold story of the World War II adventures of Maj. Peter J. Ortiz, USMCR, whose path to becoming the most battle-decorated member of the OSS, America’s first spy agency — and one of the most decorated Marines of World War II — was unlike any other.
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11. Talk. $12. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, 404-814-4000. atlantahistorycenter.com.
Sara Goodman Confino, “Off the Record,” and Jessica Handler, “The World to See.” In Confino’s romantic comedy, an aspiring newspaper reporter comes across a mystery that threatens to turn the Cold War hot.
High-stakes friendships test four women’s loyalties in Handler’s novel when a teenager helps her best friend hide a disturbing secret.
Noon. Thursday, Nov. 12. Talk, Q&A, signing. $16.50-$21.50. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta, 678-812-4000. atlantajcc.org.
Amena Brown, “Never Tell a Black Girl How to Black Girl.” Writer, spoken-word poet and performing artist Brown’s essay collection blends storytelling, humor and pop culture commentary to talk about growing up in the South and the wisdom she’s gleaned from being raised and supported by Southern Black women.
6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12. Conversation, signing, refreshments. $35. Book Bird, 70 N. Avondale Road, Suite 120/130, Avondale Estates, 404-855-5489. thebook-bird.com.
Ariel Lawhon, “The Pirate Queen.” Lawhon, the bestselling author of “The Frozen River,” will discuss her historical adventure inspired by the life of Grace O’Malley, the legendary Irish Sea captain and folk heroine who risked everything to defend her people.
3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14. Conversation, signing. Free, or $45 includes signed book. See link for more VIP ticket details. Johns Creek United Methodist Church, 11180 Medlock Bridge Road, Johns Creek. bookmiser.net/events.
Charles Lachman, “They Shall Not See the Dawn: The Manhunt for the Third Reich’s Most Wanted,” and Natalie Livingstone, “The Nuremberg Women: The Untold Story of the Eight Women Who Brought the Nazis to Justice.” From historian Lachman comes a true historical thriller that follows a unit of American agents from all walks of life in a race against time to capture World War II’s most notorious Nazis before they could vanish or rally a new resistance.
Livingstone tells the story of eight women involved in the 1945 Nuremberg trial — journalists, researchers, lawyers, interpreters, court reporters, witnesses, artists and even defendants — who were pivotal in serving justice.
1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15. Conversation, Q&A, signing. $16.50-$21.50. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta. 678-812-4000. atlantajcc.org.
Jaclyn Moriarty, “Time Travel for Beginners.” Moriarty’s third adult novel follows three people who converge at a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency, where they leap headlong into time, hurtling on a crash course toward one another that explores the moments, big and small, that shape our destiny.
7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18. Conversation. Free, or $30 includes book. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur, 404-370-3070, eagleeyebooks.com.
Keynote Lecture by Amitav Ghosh, “Habitats, Humanity and Apocalypse.” Environmental thinker and author Ghosh (“The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable”) asks whether it is indeed the case that human modes of habitation have ended, and if so, whether literature might be able to restore the possibility of dwelling meaningfully on the planet.
7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. Lecture, signing. Free. Performing Arts Studio, Emory University, 1804 N. Decatur Road, Atlanta, 404-727-0708. fchi.emory.edu.
Ben Mezrich, “Checkmate: Genius, Lies, Ambition, and the Biggest Scandal in Chess.” When American chess prodigy Hans Niemann defeated world champion Magnus Carlsen in 2022, Carlsen accused Niemann of cheating — a bombshell allegation that rocked the chess world. With exclusive access to the central figures, Mezrich takes readers inside the story of a teenager willing to risk everything to rise to the top, a reclusive genius suddenly fighting to protect his legacy and a centuries-old game transforming into a billion-dollar industry.
8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. Talk, Q&A, signing. $21.50-$26.50. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Atlanta, 678-812-4000. atlantajcc.org.