As part of The Baltimore Sun's Fall Arts Guide, we're picking the best arts activities coming to the area this fall. Here's the best books from local authors — or local book events — on the horizon.
For more, see best bets for: pop music | theater | classical music | visual art | dance | film | eclectic | suburban events.
‘Basilio Boullosa Stars in the Fountain of Highlandtown’
This new collection of fiction by the Bard of Highlandtown, Rafael Alvarez, celebrates the lives of the immigrants, drunks and dreamers who populate the city's rundown rowhouses, tugboats, marble steps and waterfront factories. Book launch party Sept. 18 at the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, 3134 Eastern Ave. $25-$33 includes copy of book. citylitproject.org or creativealliance.org.
‘The Ninth Hour: A Novel’
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice McDermott, who teaches in the Johns Hopkins University's Writing Seminars, continues her chronicle of Irish-American life by exploring the aftermath of a suicide in the early 20th century. The death reverberates through the life of the victim's widow and unborn daughter and the nuns who help the family cope. Book publishes Sept. 19, $26; McDermott will be reading at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Baltimore Book Festival's Literary Salon, free. us.macmillan.com or baltimorebookfestival.com.
2017 Baltimore Book Festival
The 22nd annual festival will feature Virginia Grohl's book about raising her rock star son, Dave; cooking demonstrations; appearances by two prominent figures in the "Serial" podcast, Rabia Chaudry and Asia McClain; and such A-list authors as Stephen Hunter and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Sept. 22-24 at the Inner Harbor. Free. baltimorebookfestival.com.
‘Galloway’s Gamble’
Elkridge resident and "Star Trek" author Howard Weinstein is turning his hand to a different genre — historic Westerns — with this tale of a pair of bickering, card-playing brothers who team up to save their town from a cattle baron and banker. Reading at 1 p.m. Oct. 7, Greetings & Readings of Hunt Valley, 118-AA Shawan Road, Hunt Valley. Free. learn.cengage.com or greetingsandreadings.com.
‘The Glass Eye: A Memoir’
This debut memoir by Towson University professor Jeannie Vanasco has been generating early buzz. The night before her father died, the then-teenage author promised to write a book for him. The result is this account of love, grief, mental illness and recovery. Reading at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 at Bird in Hand Coffee & Books, 11 E. 33rd St. Free. tinhouse.com or birdinhandcharlesvillage.com.