Ron Rash, “Something Rich and Strange.” 7 p.m. Nov. 17. Talk, reading, signing. $10. Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, 990 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-814-4150, atlantahistorycenter.com/program/mmh-lecture-ron-rash-something-rich-and-strange. This short-story collection by the author of “Serena” evokes the heart and soul of Appalachia.
Wiley Cash, “This Dark Road to Mercy.” 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Signing. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., Woodstock. 770-516-9989, foxtalebookshoppe.com/events. Cash’s follow-up to “A Land More Kind Than Home” features two sisters, their ex-baseball player father, and a sinister figure bent on revenge.
Emory Creative Writing Reading Series: Edith Freni. 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17. Reading, signing. Free. Joseph W. Jones Room, Level 3, Robert W. Woodruff Library, 540 Asbury Circle, Atlanta. 404-727-6861, arts.emory.edu/news/press-releases/110314-playwrighting-wc-freni.html. Freni, first recipient of Emory’s playwriting fellowship, has had works produced, developed and read at numerous theatrical institutions. Her play “Thebans: A Working Draft by Sophocles” was produced at the University of Miami in February.
Tom Chaffin, “Giant’s Causeway: Frederick Douglass’s Irish Odyssey and the Making of an American Visionary.” 7 p.m. Nov. 17. Lecture, signing. Free. Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, jimmycarterlibrary.gov/events. Drawing from hundreds of letters, diaries and other documents, Chaffin chronicles how Douglass’ 1845-47 lecture tour of Ireland, Scotland and England transformed him from a storyteller to a leader in the American struggle for equality.
Poetry Atlanta Presents. 7:15 p.m. Nov. 19. Readings. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225, georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=745. Featuring Lynn Alexander (“Man Done Gone”), Karen Paul Holmes (“Untying the Knot”) and Georgia author of the year finalist for poetry Michelle Castleberry (“Dissecting the Angel”).
Peter Fallon. 6:30 p.m. Nov. 20. Reading. Joseph W. Jones Room, Level 3, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, 540 Asbury Circle, Atlanta. 404-727-6861, arts.emory.edu/events. Irish editor-publisher Fallon has written several collections of poetry, including “Strong, My Love,” published this year.
Maureen Corrigan, “So We Read On: How ‘The Great Gatsby’ Came to Be and Why It Endures.” 7:15 p.m. Nov. 20. Talk, signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225; georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=746. Offering a fresh perspective, Corrigan explores the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel’s hidden depths — including its surprising debt to hard-boiled crime fiction.
Anne Lamott, “Small Victories.” 7 p.m. Nov. 21. Talk, signing. Free. First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairmont Ave., Decatur. 404-373-1653, georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show.php?id=747. Lamott’s new collection of essays offers a message of hope: Our victories over hardship and pain may seem small, but they change our lives.
John Connolly, “The Wolf in Winter.” 7 p.m. Nov. 22. Talk, signing. Free. Norcross Cultural Arts Center, 10 College St., Norcross. 770-978-5154, gwinnettpl.org/event/author-john-connolly-talk-and-signing. Connolly (“The Wrath of Angels”) returns with another Charlie Parker thriller set in Maine.
Jennifer Booker, “Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes With a French Accent.” 1 p.m. Nov. 22. Signing. Free. Barnes & Noble, 5141 Peachtree Parkway, Norcross. 770-209-4244, store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2070. Booker’s regional cookbook intersperses 135 family recipes with stories of her family farm in Charleston, Miss.
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