Civil War Lecture and Book Signing
Author Dr. Benjamin Franklin Cooling will discuss his book Counter-Thrust: From the Peninsula to the Antietam. Thursday, October 9, 7:30 p.m. at Centreville Regional Library. Registration is required, please call 703-830-2223.

Fairfax County African-American Stories
Fairfax County Stories 1607-2007 and the Jamestown 400 Legacy Book with Supervisor Penny Gross and authors Houston Summers, Keith Mann and Deborah Nagy. Saturday, October 11, 3 p.m. at Woodrow Wilson Library. Registration is required, please call 703-820-8774.

The Undercover Life of an Espionage Writer
Best-selling spy novelist Daniel Silva will be interviewed by writer Tim Wendel at 7:30 p.m. October 14 at the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035.

Silva is the author of 11 books, including The Kill Artist, The Secret Servant and his latest, Moscow Rules. He ranks among masters of international intrigue such as John Le Carré and Graham Greene.

Award-winning novelist and journalist Tim Wendel is the author of Castro’s Curveball and the soon-to-be published Red Rain. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Esquire and other publications.

Books will be available for sale and signing. No registration is required, first come, first served. For more information, call 703-324-8438.

Harambee Readers
Meet Dr. Joyce Willard-Teal, author of Are You Raising the Next Generation of Hoodlums? Lecture and book signing. Saturday, October 18, 10:30 a.m. at Sherwood Regional Library. Registration is required, please call 703-765-3645.

A Champagne and Dessert Gala with Author David Baldacci
Friends of the Oakton Library will celebrate the first anniversary of the library by hosting a Champagne and Dessert Gala with author David Baldacci. Mr. Baldacci and his wife are cofounders of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts. Saturday, October 18, 7:30 p.m. at Oakton Library. Tickets may be purchased by contacting The Friends of the Oakton Library, at patriciasreed1@juno.com

Meet Judith Heimann
Meet Judith Heimann, author of The Airmen and the Headhunters: A True Story of Lost Soldiers, Heroic Tribesmen and the Unlikeliest Rescue of World War II. Wednesday, October 22, 1:00 p.m. at Patrick Henry Library. Registration is required, please call 703-938-0405.

Sportswriter and Author Stefan Fatsis
Get the inside scoop on the National Football League with sportswriter, author and National Public Radio (NPR) commentator Stefan Fatsis, author of A Few Seconds of Panic at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12 at the City of Fairfax Regional Library.

A Few Seconds of Panic is the author’s Plimptonian-style story of his summer as a training camp placekicker for the Denver Broncos.

Fatsis has been a reporter and sportswriter for the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal. He is a regular sports commentator on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and he has also appeared on CNBC, ESPN and other networks. Books will be available for sale and signing courtesy of Borders. To register, please call 703-293-6227.

Newbery Award Winner
Join Christopher Paul Curtis, the award-winning author of The Watsons Go to Birmingham –1963 and Bud, Not Buddy, as well as other children’s books.

Curtis will discuss “Using Characters to Create the Characters” at 7:30 p.m. on November 14 in the Board Auditorium of the Fairfax County Government Center. Age 6 and up. Books will be available for sale and signing. No registration required; first come, first served. For details, call 703-324-8428.

Curtis’ second novel, Bud, Not Buddy, is the only book to win both the American Library Association’s annual Newbery Medal for outstanding children’s fiction and the Coretta Scott King Award honoring an outstanding African-American author.

College Admissions: A Family Affair
Learn how to turn the college admission process from an ordeal into an opportunity for family bonding with the authors of College Admissions Together: It Takes a Family at 7:30 p.m. on November 18 at the George Mason Regional Library. Adults and teens. Books available for sale and signing courtesy of Borders. Call 703-256-3800 to sign up.

Educational consultant Steven Roy Goodman and family psychologist Andrea Leiman will discuss making the college search a family process.