The Twin Cities Jewish Book Fair (which is open to everyone, of course) is bringing in a fine slate of writers this fall and winter, including New Yorker writer Susan Orlean and novelist Myla Goldberg.

The fair is spread out over several months, with the first writer -- David Bezmozgis, author of "The Free World" -- speaking at 7 p.m. Oct. 25, and the 12th writer -- Lisa Miller, author of "Heaven: Our Enduring Fascinating with the Afterlife" -- speaking in February.

Orlean's new book is "Rin Tin Tin," a biography of the famous TV dog. She'll be in town Nov. 16. Goldberg, author of "Bee Season," will be here in January.

Admission ranges from $6 to $15. Season passes are available. For more information, go to www.stpauljcc.org

Also ...

• "Best Food Writing 2011," just out this month, includes a piece by Star Tribune Taste writer Rick Nelson. "From Kenya, With Love," which originally ran last September, is about an East African couple who now have a farm in Wisconsin. You can read it here: www.startribune.com/a686

• "Breadcrumbs," a young-adult novel by Anne Ursu, has been published by Walden Pond Press (an imprint of HarperCollins). A modern-day "Snow Queen" set in Minneapolis, it's the story of two friends, Hazel and Jack, who are best friends until Jack's heart turns to ice. Ursu -- the author of many books, but known to baseball fans as the author of the now-defunct but still witty "Batgirl" blog -- teaches at Hamline University in St. Paul.

• "Downriver People," by Bea Exner Liu, has been published by New Rivers Press. It's the fictional adaptation of the memoirs of Liu, who was born in Minnesota and moved to China during the Great Depression to teach.

• "An Undiscovered Country," a collection of poems by Bruce Arlen Wasserman, has been published by the Horace Simerman Literary Press. Wasserman, who lives in Colorado, studied at Winona State University.

• "Main Street Public Library: Community Places and Reading Spaces in the Rural Heartland, 1876-1956," by Wayne Wiegand, has been published by the University of Iowa Press. It features the public library in Sauk Centre, Minn., among others.

• "He Sapa Woihanble: Black Hills Dream," an anthology by the Oak Lake Writing Project, has been published by St. Paul's Living Justice Press. The book, edited by Craig Howe, Lydia Whirlwind Soldier and Lanniko L. Lee, presents views of the Black Hills from 23 Lakota, Dakota and Nakota writers.