The Goat Farm Presents "Naked City: Fear.″ 8:30 p.m. Oct. 7. Variety show. $5-$15, pay what you can. The Warhorse, Atlanta Goat Farm, 1200 Foster St., Atlanta. www.facebook.com/TheGoatFarmArtsCenter. Add your five-minute story, song, poem, comedy routine, interpretive dance, extemporaneous monologue or anything else that ties in to the theme (fear) at this monthly, crowd-sourced performance. Come early (8 p.m.) to sign up.
Terry McMillan, "Who Asked You?" 7 p.m. Oct. 7. Talk and signing. Free. Barnes & Noble Buckhead, 2900 Peachtree Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-261-7747, http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/1907. McMillan ("Waiting to Exhale," "How Stella Got Her Groove Back") returns with a new novel about a woman grappling with her aging husband, a son in prison, a daughter on drugs, and grandkids.
Amy Pence and Sandra Meek. 8 p.m. Oct. 9. Poetry reading. $3-$5. Tickets sold at the door, cash or check only. Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, 980 Briarcliff Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-872-5338, Ext. 228; www.callanwolde.org/events/index.html. Pence ("The Decadent Lovely") is a professor at DeVry University, where she teaches writing and poetry. Meek is the author of "Road Scatter" and three other poetry collections.
Tom Franklin and Beth Ann Fennelly, "The Tilted World." 7:15 p.m. Oct. 9. Reading and signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225; www.facebook.com/georgiacenterforthebook/events. Also appearing: noon Oct. 9. Catered lunch with authors. Reservations required, at store or online. $45 includes lunch and copy of the book. FoxTale Book Shoppe. www.foxtalebookshoppe.com/events. This collaboration between Franklin ("Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter") and his wife, poet Beth Ann Fennelly, is a fast-moving and unexpectedly charming tale of revenuers and moonshiners — and unexpected heroes and heroines — set in Mississippi during the Great Flood of 1927.
John Ferling, "Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation." 8 p.m. Oct. 9. Lecture and signing. $10. Atlanta History Center, 130 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W., Atlanta. 404-814-4150, www.atlantahistorycenter.com/Page.asp?id=97&eventid=526. Ferling's account of two of America's most famous revolutionaries documents their backgrounds and the influences that led to a deep divide in their dreams for their new country. Jefferson believed in individual liberty, an egalitarian society, and a weak central government with power left to the states. Hamilton sought a powerful national government to ensure security and economic greatness. Those competing legacies continue to shape our politics today.
Andrew Carroll, "Here Is Where: Discovering America's Great Forgotten History." 7 p.m. Oct. 9. Reading and signing. Free. Carter Presidential Library & Museum Theater, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov/events. Carroll takes readers on an eye-opening and entertaining tour of America in this lively exploration of lesser-known or overlooked historical sites.
What's New in Poetry: Laura Mullen, Khadijah Queen, Kim Gek Lin Short. 8 p.m. Oct. 10. Readings. Free. Barnes & Noble @ Emory, 1390 Oxford Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-727-6222, http://emory.bncollege.com.
Bill Bryson, "One Summer: America, 1927." 7 p.m. Oct. 11. Talk and signing. Free. First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairmont Ave., Decatur. 404-373-1653, www.facebook.com/georgiacenterforthebook/events. Charles Lindbergh's historic Atlantic crossing, the rise of Babe Ruth, the first talking picture ("The Jazz Singer") and Al Capone's murderous reign of terror — the author of "A Walk in the Woods" describes how the events of a single summer shaped and changed America and its position in the world.
"George Liele's Life and Legacy: An Unsung Hero.″ 4 p.m. Oct. 12. Discussion and signing. Free. Auburn Avenue Research Library, 101 Auburn Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-730-4001, Ext. 100; www.afpls.org/aarl. Authors Julia Frazier White and Deborah Bingham Van Broekhoven examine the global Christian mission of abolitionist Liele, a onetime slave.
