Kathryn Holland Braund on "William Bartram's Surprising Travels." 3 p.m. April 27. Talk and signing. $10, registration required. Atlanta History Center, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-814-4150, atlantahistorycenter.com/program/cherokee-garden-library-lecture-kathryn-holland-braund-william-bartram's-surprising-travels. Braund is an expert on the ethnohistory of Creek and Seminole Indians in the 18th and 19th centuries. A tour of pioneer naturalist Bartram's flora in the Mary Howard Gilbert Memorial Quarry Garden will follow, along with a light reception.
William Buzbee, "Fighting Westway: Environmental Law, Citizen Activism, and the Regulatory War That Transformed New York City." 7 p.m. April 29. Reading and signing. Free. Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, jimmycarterlibrary.gov/events. From 1971 to 1985, high-stakes legal battles raged over Westway, a multibillion-dollar development project slated for New York City. Buzbee reveals how an opposition coalition was able to defeat this project supported by government officials, much of the business community and most unions.
Teeny Lamothe, "Teeny's Tour of Pies." 7 p.m. April 29. Signing. Free. Eagle Eye Book Shop, 2076 N. Decatur Road, Decatur. 404-486-0307, eagleeyebooks.com/calendar.html. Lamothe traveled America to work with the best bakers. She shares the fruits of her apprenticeship in a delectable journey into total pie immersion with more than 55 varieties, sweet and savory.
Jamie Iredell, "I Was a Fat Drunk Catholic School Insomniac." 7:15 p.m. April 29. Talk and signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225; georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=692. Iredell's essays tackle his highs and lows with the unembellished voice of an anthropologist, digging into subjects like drugs, alcoholism, body image, racism, feminism and religion.
Megan Sexton and Megan Volpert. 7:15 p.m. April 30. Poetry readings. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225; poetryatlanta.blogspot.com/2014/04/april-readings-events.html. Sexton ("Swift Hour") and Volpert ("Only Ride") launch their new poetry collections.
Ellen Griffith Spears, "Baptized in PCBs: Race, Pollution and Justice in an All-American Town." 7:30 p.m. April 30. Talk and signing. Suggested donation: $5. Charis Books & More, 1189 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-524-0304, charisbooksandmore.com/event/2014/04/30/day. Spears will discuss the citizen battle against agrochemical giant Monsanto over the dumping of polychlorinated biphenyls in the historically African-American and white working-class westside of Anniston, Ala.
Barbara Brown Taylor, "Learning to Walk in the Dark." 7 p.m. May 1. Talk and signing. Free. First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairmont Ave., Decatur. 404-373-1653, georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=684. Piedmont College religion professor Taylor ("Leaving Church," "An Altar in the World") embarked on a yearlong journey through caves, underground nightclubs and unlit cabins in a quest to understand the spirituality of darkness.
Ashton Lee, "The Reading Circle." 1 p.m. May 3. Signing. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., Woodstock. 770-516-9989, foxtalebookshoppe.com/events. In Lee's novel, a young librarian in Cherico, Miss., tries to boost circulation and save her job through a book club that meets to discuss Margaret Mitchell and Harper Lee over chicken gumbo and homemade biscuits.
