Carapace: Sweet Release! 7:30 p.m. April 23. Oral storytelling. Free. Manuel's Tavern, 602 N. Highland Ave., Atlanta. 404-525-3447, http://manuelstavern.com. Is it just another word for nothing left to lose? Freedom: Share how you finally found yours. Stories must be true and limited to five minutes.
Bret Witter, "Until I Say Goodbye: My Year of Living With Joy." 7 p.m. April 23. Reading and signing. Free. Jimmy Carter Library & Museum, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov. When journalist Susan Spencer-Wendel learned that she had ALS — Lou Gehrig's disease — and one year to live, she quit her job to travel around the world. Her memoir, co-written with Decatur writer Witter, is the moving and inspirational story of a woman who makes the most of her final days.
Katharine Wilkinson, "Between God & Green." 7:30 p.m. April 23. Talk and signing. Suggested donation: $5. Charis Books & More, 1189 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-524-0304, www.charisbooksandmore.com. Wilkinson maintains that evangelical environmentalists are reshaping not only the landscape of American climate action, but the contours of their own religious communities.
Eric Jerome Dickey, "Decadence." 7 p.m. April 23. Reading, Q&A and signing. Free. Barnes & Noble Buckhead, 2900 Peachtree Road N.E., Atlanta. 404-261-7747, http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/1907. Dickey's latest tale takes up where his last novel, "Pleasure," left off: Nia Simone Bijou is now a successful author living in Los Angeles and having a difficult time balancing truth and fantasy.
Peter Lacovara, Marjorie Martin Fisher, Salima Ikram and Chester Higgins Jr., "Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on the Nile." 7:30 p.m. April 23. Panel discussion and signing. Free. Reception Hall, Michael C. Carlos Museum, 571 S. Kilgo Circle, Atlanta. 404-727-4282, www.carlos.emory.edu. Three Egyptologists and an award-winning photographer discuss their collaboration, which documents recent discoveries about the history, architecture and culture of ancient Nubia.
Mo Willems, "That Is Not a Good Idea!" 6 p.m. April 24. Reading and signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur. 404-370-8450, Ext. 2225, www.georgiacenterforthebook.org. Best-selling author Willems ("Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!") has written a new book about the importance of listening to your inner self.
Brandt Ayers, "In Love With Defeat: The Making of a Southern Liberal." 7 p.m. April 24. Lecture and signing. Free. Jimmy Carter Library & Museum, 441 Freedom Parkway, Atlanta. 404-865-7100, www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov. Anniston Star publisher Ayers presents a richly anecdotal look at Alabama's past half century and chronicles the evolution of his personal politics.
Nell Dickerson, "Porch Dogs." 6 p.m. April 25. Signing. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., Woodstock. 770-516-9989, www.foxtalebookshoppe.com. Dickerson combines fine-art portraits of man's best friend with beautiful architectural documentation of the Southern porch.
An Evening of Poetry and Prose: Myra Shapiro, "12 Floors Above the Earth." 7:30 p.m. April 25. Reading. Suggested donation: $5. Charis Books & More, 1189 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-524-0304, www.charisbooksandmore.com. Shapiro's new poems draw upon the author's Jewish background, her love of family and her rejection of convention.
Alexis Pauline Gumbs: Finding the Poetry in Toni Morrison. 7:30 p.m. April 26. Reading. Suggested donation: $5. Charis Books & More, 1189 Euclid Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-524-0304, www.charisbooksandmore.com. In a collaboration with filmmaker Julia Roxanne Wallace, Gumbs offers a series of audio pieces and short films based on the poetry found in Morrison's novels.
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