Book Festival of the MJCCA. Nov. 1-19. Talks, meet-and-greets, signings, discussions. Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. 678-812-4005, atlantajcc.org/bookfestival. This 23rd edition of the festival features such authors and celebrities as Mark Bittman, Walter Isaacson, Ron Suskind, Ayelet Waldman and Rabbi Joseph Telushkin.
Charles M. Blow, "Fire Shut Up in My Bones." 8 p.m. Nov 3. Lecture, signing. $10. Atlanta History Center, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-814-4150, atlantahistorycenter.com/program/aiken-lecture-charles-m-blow-fire-shut-my-bones. Journalist Blow tells how he found his voice by coming to terms with a painful past in a segregated town in Louisiana.
Cynthia Lott, "The Feathers." 7 p.m. Nov. 3. Talk, signing. Free. Tall Tales Book Shop, 2105 LaVista Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-636-2498, talltalesatlanta.com/events.html. Atlanta author Lott's new crime thriller is set in New Orleans in the middle of a yellow fever epidemic.
Anna Quindlen, "Still Life With Bread Crumbs." 7:45 p.m. Nov. 3. Conversation, signing. $33, includes a copy of the book. MJCCA, 5342 Tilly Mill Road, Dunwoody. 678-812-4005, atlantajcc.org/pldb-live/25746. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author ("A Short Guide to a Happy Life") returns with a story about a photographer who leaves city life for the wilderness, only to encounter unexpected romance. With Teresa Weaver, Atlanta Magazine columnist.
Azar Nifisi, "The Republic of Imagination." 7 p.m. Nov. 3. Talk, signing. Free. First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairmont Ave., Decatur. 404-373-1653, georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=741. The best-selling author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran" talks about the importance of fiction in a democratic society.
Lostintheletters Festival 2014. Nov. 6-8. Burnaway, 261 Peters St. S.W., Atlanta; and the Atlanta Goat Farm, 1200 Foster St., Atlanta. thelettersfestival.org. Featuring writers from around the country who exhibit cutting-edge and diverse voices, the festival will include nightly live readings, a series of workshops, a discussion panel and access to the Book Market. Featured writers include Kate Sweeney, Aaron Burch, Jason McCall, C.A. Conrad, Amy McDaniel, Gina Abelkop, Lindsay Hunter and Jamie Iredell. An after-party takes place Nov. 8 at Manuel's Tavern.
Leslie M. Harris and Daina Ramey Berry, "Slavery and Freedom in Savannah." 7:15 p.m. Nov. 6. Talk, signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225; georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=742. Harris and Berry have collected perspectives from leading historians on slavery, emancipation and black life in Savannah from the city's founding to the early 20th century.
Alexander McCall Smith, "The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe." 7 p.m. Nov. 7. Reading, discussion, signing. SCAD Show, 173 14th St., Atlanta. 404-681-5128, acappellabooks.com/event/alexander-mccall-smith-book-signing. In the 15th book of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, a brother and sister have taken in a woman who has forgotten her name and how she came to Botswana.
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