You may know actor B.J. Novak from his hilarious role as Ryan the weasel-y temp on TV’s “The Office,” but he is a comedian, director, producer and author, too. Novak won praise for his debut story collection, “One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories” (Knopf, $24.95) and now he’s back with an unusual book for kids ages 3 to 7, “The Book With No Pictures” (Dial Books for Young Readers, $17.99), which has no illustrations but plenty of cues to help adults liven up the story with silly sounds and other funny stuff when they read it aloud to kids.
Novak will appear with Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 26 Meeting House Lane, Madison, presented by R.J. Julia Booksellers of Madison. Admission for up to two adults and two children is the purchase of a copy at the bookstore, 768 Boston Post Road, Madison.
Also at the bookstore:
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m., Connecticut romance novelist Kristan Higgins will give a free talk about her latest, “In Your Dreams” (Harlequin, $7.99). Higgins is a bestselling author and two-time winner of the Romance Writers of America RITA Award.
On Thursday, Oct. 2 at 6 p.m., a Young Adult Panel Discussion for Adults will explore “Why Your Kids Can’t Put These Books Down.” The panelists, who specialize in YA literature and teen issues — a bookseller, teen librarian, assistant editor, family therapist and a teenager –- will discuss why books and movie storylines about such things as cancer, death, dystopian universes, rape and other dark subjects currently are so popular. The fee to attend is $5.
Registration is required for all R.J. Julia events: 203-245-3959 or www.rjjulia.com.
Rand Richards Cooper At Westminster
Rand Richards Cooper, a Hartford-based travel writer, film and book reviewer, essayist and author of two novels, will open Westminster School’s free series of fall readings on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 7 p.m. The event will be held in Armour Academic Center at the school, 995 Hopmeadow St., Simsbury. The student reader will be senior Drew Brazer.
Cooper writes for Commonweal and won the 2002 Lowell Thomas Gold Medal award from the Society of American Travel Writers. He also has written for Bon Appétit and The New York Times. Information: 860-408-3053.
Nook Farm Book Talk
A free informal discussion of the fantasy novel “Wicked: The Life and Times of The Wicked Witch of the West” (HarperCollins, $26.99) by Gregory Maguire will take place Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 5:30 p.m., following a 5 p.m. reception at The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford. The series of talks are presented with the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center.
Maguire and Stephen Schwartz, the composer-lyricist of the smash musical “Wicked” based on the imaginative retelling of the classic “Wizard of Oz” story, will headline the Twain House’s Mark My Words 2014: A Wicked Cool Evening event at the Bushnell on Oct. 21.
Reservations: 860-280-3130 or www.marktwainhouse.org.
BOOK/MARK At Hartford Seminary
The Mark Twain House & Museum and the Hartford Seminary will present a free BOOK/MARK talk by author Alex Beam on “American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church” (Public Affairs, $26.99) on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Hartford Seminary, 77 Sherman St., Hartford.
Beam’s new book explains how the 1884 assassination of controversial Mormon leader Smith, who had founded a religion, married more than 30 women and was running for president, ultimately led to the expansion of Mormonism into the West and its success as America’s largest native religion. Beam is an author and columnist for the Boston Globe.
Reservations: 860-280-3130 or www.marktwainhouse.org.
Twain House Writing Classes
A workshop will be offered and six fall writing classes will begin in October at The Mark Twain House & Museum, 351 Farmington Ave., Hartford.
The Perfect Pitch: A Workshop in Publicity for Writers, will be held Saturday, Oct. 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. It costs $40 and will be led by author and TV and radio host Mike Morin.
The classes, which will run on Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m. from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12 and cost $265 each, are: Writing Fiction, with author Susan Schoenberger; Writing Political Poetry, with poet Edwina Trentham; Freelance Writing, with reporter and editor Theresa Sullivan Barger; Travel Writing, with author Mary Sharnick; Writing Nonfiction, with journalist and author Susan Campbell; and Writing from Found Texts, a Fiction & Creative Nonfiction Writing Class, with essayist and author Yelizaveta P. Renfro.
Registration is required: 860-280-3130 or online at www.marktwainhouse.org.
WordForge Reading Series
The WordForge Reading Series opens its free fall programs Monday, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m. at The Studio @ Billings Forge, 563 Broad St., Hartford, with poets Melissa Croghan and Rennie McQuilkin and an open mike session.
Croghan’s latest collection is “Cliff Walk :Poems & Paintings of Mackinac & Beyond” (Antrim House, $19). McQuilkin is the founder of Antrim House and has published many collections of his own poetry and that of others. His work also has appeared in The Atlantic, The Southern Review, The Yale Review and other publications. He has won the Connecticut Center for the Book’s Lifetime Achievement Award and its 2010 poetry award.
Information: 860-508-2810 or here.
“Sharp”
David Fitzpatrick was in his mid-20s when his emotional problems led him to cut himself to achieve a kind of euphoria, despite the dangers. He has written “Sharp: A Memoir” (William Morrow, $25.99) about his addiction to self-injury, institutionalizations and struggle to control his bi-polar condition.
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 p.m. at Prosser Public Library, 1 Tunxis Ave., Bloomfield, Fitzpatrick will give a free talk about his memoir, co-sponsored by the library and NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Registration: 860-243-9721 or www.prosserlibrary.info .
Twisted History
Wethersfield author F. Mark Granato will give a free talk, titled “Twisted History,” about his life as an author and his books on Sunday, Sept. 28, at 2 p.m. at Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow St, Simsbury.
Granato’s books, which often are inspired by “what-if” questions about history, include “Finding David,” “Of Winds and Rage,” “Beneath His Wings: The Plot to Murder Lindbergh,” “Titanic: The Final Voyage” and “The Barn Find.”
Registration: 860-658-7663 or simsburylibrary.info.
Central Authors
The Fall 2014 season of free Central Authors book talks continues at Central Connecticut State University on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 12:15 p.m. in the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in the CCSU Student Center, 105 Ella Grasso Blvd., New Britain. The authors are CCSU faculty, staff, and alumni.
On Wednesday, Oct. 1, CCSU alumnus Nicholas Chanese will discuss his novel, “The Smile” (CreateSpace, $10). Information: Gigliotti@mail.ccsu.edu or 860-832-2759.
Hopper At Russell House
Wesleyan University’s Russell House Series, held at 350 High St., Middletown, brings noted authors to the campus for free readings.
On Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m., poet Ailish Hopper will read. Hopper, who teaches at Goucher College, is the author of the collection “Dark-Sky Society” (New Issues Poetry & Prose, $15). Her poems have been published in American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Poetry and other journals. Information: 860-685-3448 or www.wesleyan.edu/writing.
Mystery Discussion
Carole Shmurak, of Farmington, who writes the Susan Lombardi mystery novels, will lead a free discussion of “Consigned to Death” by Jane Cleland for the Wallingford Mystery Group’s New England: Land of Mystery series, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 3 p.m. at Wallingford Public Library, 200 N Main St., Wallingford. Information: 203-265-6754.
Janice Law At UConn Co-op
Connecticut author Janice Law, whose latest novel, “Moon Over Tangier” (MysteriousPress.com/Open Road, $14.99), is the final volume in her Francis Bacon mystery trilogy, will give a free talk at the UConn Coop, One Royce Circle 101, Storrs Center, Storrs, on Thursday, Oct. 2, at 6 p.m.
The book is the sequel to “The Prisoner of the Riviera” that won the 2013 Lambda Award for best gay mystery. Information: 860-486-8525 or www.janicelaw.com.
“Gutenberg’s Apprentice”
Author Alix Christie will give a free talk about her debut novel, “Gutenberg’s Apprentice” (Harper, $27.99), an imaginative retelling of the invention of printing and how it changed the world, on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 4 p.m. at Scoville Memorial Library, 38 Main St., Salisbury. Information: www.scovillelibrary.org or 860-435-2838.
Christie also will give a free talk about the book on Oct. 5, at 2 p.m. at Westport Public Library, 20 Jesup Road, Westport. Information: 203-291-4800 or westportlibrary.org.
