The annual Book Lovers' Ball -- a fundraiser for the nonprofit literary press Milkweed Editions -- will take place next month. Food and drink, an auction, some poets, some readings -- it's sure to be a full evening. Novelist David Rhodes will read from his critically acclaimed novel, "Driftless," published last fall and now out in paperback. Poet Jim Lenfestey will read from "The Chain Letter of the Soul: New and Selected Poems by Bill Holm," which was published posthumously. The beloved Holm died earlier this year. There will also be a dinner. The event begins at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Graves 601 Hotel, 601 1st Av. N., Mpls. Tickets begin at $155 and are available from www.milkweed.org/bookloversball.

Also ...

• "Happy," by poet Alex Lemon, is scheduled for publication in January with Scribner. Lemon was a student at Macalester College in St. Paul in 1997 when he had his first stroke, and the book is his harrowing memoir of the experience.

• Lynne Jonnell's new middle-grade novel, "The Secret of Zoom," published by Henry Holt, is now in bookstores. One of Jonnell's previous books, "Emmy & the Incredible Shrinking Rat," was a Minnesota Book Award winner. Jonnell lives in Plymouth.

• The new St. Paul Almanac has been published, and the editors are hosting a series of events to celebrate. Starting in October, they'll present a series of 10 "reading jams" at the Black Dog Cafe, 308 Prince St., St. Paul, on the first Monday of every month beginning at 7 p.m. Each month's event will follow a theme, with writers, poets and spoken-word artists presenting their work. Diego Vazquez Jr. will curate the first jam on Oct. 5.

• "The Twelve Days of Christmas in Minnesota," a picture book written by Constance Van Hoven of St. Paul and illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka of Minneapolis will be published next month by Sterling House. It's the old carol, with a Minnesota twist. (Five golden hotdishes, four lumberjacks, two hockey sticks, tra la la...)

• "My Life With Stella Kane," by Twin Cities writer Linda Morganstein, was published earlier this year by Regal Crest. Set in Hollywood, the novel is about a young woman who is hired as a publicity agent for an actress. "The book is about the '50s, really," Morganstein says. "I love old Hollywood."

• Garrison Keillor has a fourth book due out in November. Fourth this year, that is. "A Christmas Blizzard" will be released by Viking on Nov. 3. The story follows James Sparrow, who must leave Chicago and travel through a blizzard to be with his dying uncle in North Dakota at Christmas.