A political memoir by Vice President Walter Mondale will be published this fall by Scribner, written with Dave Hage, an editor at the Star Tribune. Not yet titled, the book focuses on Mondale's public life, covering his career from the time he was Minnesota state attorney general in the 1960s through his tenure as U.S. ambassador to Japan in the 1990s. The book chronicles his friendship with Hubert H. Humphrey and the creation of the DFL party, Congress' landmark civil rights battles in the 1960s, and episodes from the presidency of Jimmy Carter.

It is based on three years of interviews with Hage, and papers that Mondale donated to the Minnesota Historical Society. Those documents represent a research treasure trove, Hage said. "Memos from the Carter administration, documents from Senate hearings -- he was involved in some thrilling floor debates in the Senate. It is his story in his words." The book will be released in October.

Also ...

•Michael Chabon will be here this week as part of the Pen Pals lecture series, sponsored by the Library Foundation of Hennepin County. He'll speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. Friday at the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 111 Mainstreet, Hopkins. Tickets are $35-$45. Chabon is the author of "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," and "The Yiddish Policeman's Union."

•"Instructions," by Neil Gaiman, will be published this month by Harper. The picture book/fairy tale is illustrated by Charles Vess. Gaiman, author of "Coraline" and many other books, will speak at 2:30 p.m. April 18 at Stillwater Junior High School, 523 W. Marsh St., Stillwater. The event is free and open to the public.

•"Prairie, Lake, Forest: Minnesota's State Parks," by Doug Ohman and Chris Niskanen, has been published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. The large-format book, illustrated with Ohman's photographs, explores unusual aspects of each park -- the bison of Blue Mounds State Park, giant pines of Itasca, deer at Wild River State Park. A book launch will be at noon Saturday in the visitor center at William O'Brien State Park, Marine on St. Croix.

•In June, Nodin Press of Minneapolis will publish "Minnesota Twins Trivia," by Jim Hoey, with more than 1,000 questions, ranging from which player was the first to steal a base for the Twins (Zoilo Versalles) to what Kent Hrbek was doing the morning of Game 7 of the 1987 World Series. You'll have to look up the answer to that one, because I'm not telling.