Durham writer Nancy Henderson-James will read from and sign copies of her new book, At Home Abroad: An American Girl in Africa. In this memoir of growing up in colonial Angola with her missionary parents, Henderson-James learns five languages, goes away to school at nine, and travels 1500 miles for high school in Rhodesia. And then when war breaks out in 1961, she must find her way in an alien America (Tacoma, Washington).

Durham author Katy Munger will launch her two new mysteries with a reading and book signing. Bad Moon on the Rise is the new title in the Casey Jones series and Desolate Angel is the first in her new Dead Detective series, written under the penname Chaz McGee. "Chaz McGee has an irresistibly rueful, melancholy voice that invites readers to remember that we all make mistakes—and that we all deserve a shot at redemption. Also: We all need to stop and smell the doughnuts," writes Laura Lippman.

Founders of Merge Records in Durham, Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance, will discuss and sign copies of the new book they wrote with John Cook, Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label that Got Big and Stayed Small.  “One of the most respected imprints in an often disreputable industry, Merge has defied the odds by releasing some of the finest rock and pop music of the last 15 years,” writes the Chicago Tribune.  Mac and Laura are two of the members of the pop-punk band Superchunk.  Mac and Laura will play some of their favorite Merge songs and show some slides—and we’ll offer beer and wine.  (We’ll also play the 20th anniversary Merge Records sampler CD.) Check out the site, www.ournoisebook.com.

Holly Goddard Jones will read from and sign copies of her new short story collection, Girl Trouble. These geographically linked stories create a composite image of life in Roma, Kentucky-haunting in its blankness-and address issues of compassion, caretaking, identity and growth. "Compelling and full of heartache, these stories are so beautifully written you won't want them to end," writes Kim Edwards, author of The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

North Carolina author Jill McCorkle will read from and sign copies of her new short story collection, Going Away Shoes. "These stories provide what brilliant fiction always provides—insight, felt life, voices of others, fascination—but more than anything else, they give pleasure," writes author Richard Bausch. Award-winning McCorkle is the author of eight previous books—three story collections and five novels—five of which have been selected as New York Times Notable Books. She teaches writing at NCSU.

Michael Rosen will discuss and sign copies of his new book, What Else But Home: Seven Boys and an American Journey Between the Projects and the Penthouse. This is an unflinching and compelling first-hand account of a family's improvised journey across the divide of race, class, and economic opportunity in the Lower East Side of New York. "Michael Rosen takes readers on a death-defying journey—gritty, surprising, funny and fiercely honest. What was defied? The death of hope. What we're now graced with? An inspiring book about what one family can accomplish," writes Ron Suskind, author of A Hope in the Unseen.