The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This week’s literary events
Linda Sands,“Grand Theft Cargo”
2 p.m. April 2. Talk, signing, refreshments. Free. RSVP. Bookmiser-Roswell, 4651 Sandy Plains Road, Roswell, 770-993-1555, bookmiser. net/ Georgia author Sands introduces a tenacious lady trucker and her beau who deliver cargo coast to coast in a new series jammed with enough crashes, explosions, and car chases to keep readers awake for the whole wild, white-knuckle ride.
David Shields,“Other People: Takes and Mistakes”
2 p.m. April 3. Georgia State’s Troy Moore Library, Room 2343, 25 Park Place NE, Atlanta, 404-413-5800, gsu.edu A new essay collection from Shields (“Reality Hunger,”) includes sharp, funny takes on O.J. Simpson, Kurt Cobain, Bill Murray, baseball, James Frey, tattoos, Tiger Woods, hostile book reviews, and more.
Taylor Brown,“The River of Kings”
7:15 p.m. April 3. Talk, signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur, 404-370-3070, Ext. 2285, acappellabooks.com/ pages/events/124/taylorbrown-river-of-kings In an evocative new novel, Brown (“The Fallen Land”) weaves together the river journey of two brothers, their father’s tangled past, and the buried history of the river’s earliest people.
Anna Schachner, “You and I and Somebody Else”
7:15 p.m. April 4. Talk, signing. Free. Decatur Library Auditorium, 215 Sycamore St., Decatur, 404-370-3070, Ext. 2285, georgiacenterforthebook.org/Events/show. php?id=946 The daughter of a traveling carnival worker finds in motherhood the perfect chance to encourage her dying father to live and to rectify her unhappy childhood. North Carolina native Schachner lives in Atlanta and edits the Chattahoochee Review.
Emily Giffin,“First Comes Love”
6:30 p.m. April 4. Reception, talk, signing. $25. Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta, 404-8144150, atlantahistorycenter. com/programs/category/ author-programs As the anniversary looms of a 15-year-old tragedy that splintered the fragile bond between two teenage sisters, painful secrets from the past begin to surface.
Agnes Scott College’s 45th Annual Writers’ Festival
April 4-7. Q&A, receptions, readings, signings. Free. Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave., Decatur, 404 471-6000, agnesscott.edu/writersfestival/index.html Three distinguished authors will be on campus for the oldest continuous literary event in Georgia: poet Claudia Rankine (“Citizen”), author and poet Patrick Phillips (“Blood at the Root: A Racial Cleansing in America), and Kayla Miller, whose chapbook “See & Be Seen & Be Scene,” won Five Quarterly’s 2014 competition. See link for times, schedule.
Ann B. Ross, “Miss Julia Weathers the Storm”
7 p.m. April 5. Talk, signing. $10. Margaret Mitchell House, 979 Crescent Ave. NE, Atlanta, 404-814-4150, atlantahistorycenter.com/programs/category/author-programs In the latest installment in the series, Miss Julia takes a welldeserved beach vacation, only to confront a hurricane roiling off the coast — and all the trouble it washes ashore.
David Joy, “The Weight of This World,” and Sheryl Monks,“Monsters in Appalachia,” with Ann Hite
2 p.m. April 8. Signing. Free. FoxTale Book Shoppe, 105 E. Main St., Woodstock, 770516-9989, foxtalebookshoppe.com/events/ In the new novel by the author of“Where All Light Tends to Go,” a combat veteran can’t leave the hardened world of Afghanistan behind, nor forgive himself for what he saw there. The Appalachian characters in Monk’s story collection stare into the abyss, some awaiting redemption, others fully complicit in their own undoing.
Chipper Jones, “Ballplayer”
2 p.m. April 8. Signing. Free. First Baptist Church of Decatur, 308 Clairmont Ave., Decatur, 404-373-1653, eagleeyebooks.com Former Braves third baseman Jones’s new memoir takes readers into the clubhouse of the Braves’ extraordinary dynasty and recounts his rise to the MLB ranks. Note: attendees must purchase the book from Eagle Eye Book Shop, available for purchase at store or through website.
Also appearing: 5 p.m. April 8. Signing. CoolRay Field, 2500 Buford Dr. NE, Lawrenceville, for info see link above.
Anne Lamott,“Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy”
7 p.m. April 8. Talk, signing. $22 (single)-$30 (couple) admission includes one copy of book. Ticketed event. Central Presbyterian Church, 100 Washington St. SW, Atlanta, 404-524-0304, charisbooksandmore.com In her new book, Lamott writes of the permission needed to face“the great big mess of ourselves” in order to forge a deeper understanding of ourselves and more honest connections with each other.