Today's Featured Books— Events

Free online: Cheat Codes! Join for an evening of storytelling and book chats. Cheat Codes! The Empowerment Manual for the Wife is a self-help guide for women navigating the complexities of marriage. October 4, 8 p.m. CDT.

“A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.” ~Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

Free online: Strong Women, Strange Worlds. Join for a tasting menu of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories featuring six authors who will each have eight minutes to tempt and tantalizing you with their reading. Friday, October 3, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. CDT.

“I would always rather be happy than dignified.” ~Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Free online: Readings from the Room. Join booklovers online for a free reading from the Writers' Room of Boston. The event will be hosted by Spencer Storey Johnson and will feature the work of Anu Kandikuppa and Jake Hargrove. Tuesday, September 30, 7-8 p.m. EDT.

“Life offers up these moments of joy despite everything.” ~Sally Rooney, Normal People

Free online: Tribute to Stanley Plumly and his Collected Poems. Hosted by the Hudson Valley Writers Center, join for a tribute celebration of Stanley Plumly's new Collected Poems. Poets and editors David Baker, Jill Bialosky, and Michael Collier will introduce the collection and host the reading. Sunday, September 28, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. EST. 

"I’m listening and thinking of the distances imagination travels sitting still, wandering without direction.” ~Stanley Plumly

LitNuts regularly shares information about online literary and cultural events, but in-person book festivals are also a great way to connect with authors and other booklovers. Check out this list of upcoming book festivals to find one near you. 

“So many books, so little time.” ~Frank Zappa

Free online: Chicago Storytelling at the Newberry Library. Join via Zoom to kick off the library's fall programming season with Chicago Storytelling—a celebration of the Windy City featuring presentation of the 2025 Pattis Award and conversations with photographer Sandra Steinbrecher and authors Scott W. Berg and Larry A. McClellan. Saturday, September 20, 1 p.m. CT.

"Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty." ~Scott W. Berg

Free online: Heritage Book Club. Join the New York Public Library and author Natalie Bakopoulos for a discussion of Archipelago, a stirring and impeccably balanced novel of self-discovery. Thursday, September 18, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. ET.

"We are interconnected...in the most absolute tranquility or in the midst of tumultuous events.” ~Natalie Bakopoulos, Scorpionfish

Free online: Rogue Reads, a fun online event where authors discuss their latest novels. Tonight's line-up includes Isabella Maldonado and Jeffery Deaver, authors of The Grave Artist; Lou Berney, author of Crooks; and Alyssa Maxwell, author of Murder at Arleigh. Monday, September 15, 7 p.m. EST.

"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience." ~Frank Herbert, Dune

Free online: Poetry Lit! Festival. Join for a full day of poetry with multiple readings and panel discussions throughout the day. Saturday, September 13, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. EDT. 

“Whatever you do, don’t be boring.” ~Anne Sexton

Each year, the Mississippi Book Festival (September 13, Jackson, Mississippi) unites readers and authors via panel discussions, book signings, family-friendly activities, food trucks, live music, and more! The festival is free and open to all who attend in person, but if you're not in the area, you can still enjoy the festival's huge archive of videos from past Mississippi Book Festival events. 

“One place understood helps us understand all places better.” ~Eudora Welty

Free online: Historical Fiction Book Recommendations. Join Jane Healey on the second Tuesday of each month for 30 minutes of recommendations on the best of historical fiction out there. Jane is author of The Beantown Girls, a Washington Post and Amazon bestseller, and The Secret Stealers, a Historical Novel Society’s Editors’ Choice. Tuesday, September 9, 5:30 - 6:00 PM CDT.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." ~Mark Twain

Free online: Imprint. Join this live event celebrating the YouTube release of the award-winning documentary Imprint. a poetic documentary exploring 13 grassroots projects across Sweden that reimagine community, resilience, and our shared future in the age of the Anthropocene. You can see the movie trailer on YouTube now. Saturday, September 6, 10-11 a.m. CDT. 

"What if humans belong to the Earth—and not the other way around?" ~Mattias Olsson, documentary filmmaker

Free online: Malcolm X at 100. Join the staff of the New York Public Library and a panel of scholars and authors for a discussion of the life, insights, and legacy of Malcom X. Thursday, September 4, 6:30 - 8:00 PM EDT. 

"I'm for truth, no matter who tells it." ~Malcolm X

Join Next Stop Italy for a free virtual tour of Montepulciano. Known for its magnificent views, idyllic rolling hills, medieval and Renaissance history, and its wine, Montepulciano is the quintessential Tuscan village. Thursday, August 28, 10 - 11 AM CDT. 

“Learning never exhausts the mind.” ~Leonardo da Vinci

The Eudora Welty House & Garden hosts tours and events at the author's former home in Jackson, Mississippi. Not in Jackson? You can participate in the Welty at Home Virtual Book Club. Next up: A discussion of Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, beginning Monday, September 8, at Noon CST. 

“Write about what you don’t know about what you know.” ~Eudora Welty

The Edinburgh International Book Festival, the world-leading festival of words, literature, and ideas. wraps up this weekend and includes a dozen online events Saturday and Sunday that you can attend free or for whatever you would like to donate. 

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” ~Terry Pratchett, Diggers

Free online: Strong Women, Strange Worlds. Join for a tasting menu of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories featuring six authors who will each have eight minutes to tempt and tantalizing you with their reading. Thursday, August 21, 6 PM CDT. 

"If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war." ~Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Today's Featured Books include four freebies, and you can enjoy a free online art history class this week: Art History - Raphael. Discover the history, techniques and stories behind the paintings of Raphael with Dr. Lillian Cespedes Gonzalez, PhD in history from the University of Winchester. Tuesday, August 19, 1:30 EDT. 

"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life." ~Pablo Picasso

Free online Saturday: Brew & Books. Interested in meeting fellow book lovers over your morning coffee? Join for a 30-minute virtual meet-up to sip, chat, and connect around a shared love of books—one Saturday at a time. Each session is short, sweet, and focused on a specific theme. This week’s theme: Autobiographies. Saturday, August 16, 9:30 - 10:00 AM CDT.

"In every picture there should be shade as well as light." ~James Boswell

Free online: Historical Fiction Book Recommendations. Join Jane Healey on the second Tuesday of each month for 30 minutes of recommendations on the best of historical fiction out there. Jane is author of The Beantown Girls, a Washington Post and Amazon bestseller, and The Secret Stealers, a Historical Novel Society’s Editors’ Choice. Tuesday, August 12, 5:30 - 6:00 PM CDT.

"The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like." ~E.L. Doctorow

Free online: Summer's Best from The Back Room. This live online literary event will start with a brief introduction to a panel of four authors via "20 Questions." Afterwards, online participants can talk with each author via breakout rooms. It’s all very relaxed and casual—like a virtual cocktail party! Sunday, August 10, 7 PM ET.

"Hear no evil, speak no evil, and you won't be invited to cocktail parties." ~Oscar Wilde

Today's Featured Books include four freebie, three e-books for 99 cents, and other great deals. See all of our Featured Books at LitNuts.com.

Also, there is a great free online literary event this week: Speaking Crow is brought to you by the Winnipeg (Canada) Public Library and Plume Winnipeg (formerly known as the Winnipeg International Writers Festival). It is Winnipeg's longest-running poetry open mic. Each poet will have 3 minutes to share new poetry. Tuesday, August 5, 7-8 PM CDT. 

“We are never lost, we are just not familiar yet.” ~Tarek Riman

Today's Featured Books include three highly rated freebies, and this Friday, there is a free online literary event...a First Friday QuickRead event sponsored by Strong Women Strange Worlds. Join for a tasting menu of science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories featuring 6 authors who will each have 8 minutes to tempt and tantalizing you with their reading. Friday, August 1, 11 AM CDT. 

"People will forget what you said...but people will never forget how you made them feel.” ~Maya Angelou

Free online: Postmarks & Paperbacks, the monthly book club of the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum. This month the book club will be discussing Possession by A.S. Byatt, a novel that follows the lives of a pair of young academics as they uncover a clandestine relationship between two long-dead Victorian poets. Monday, July 28, 7-8 PM EDT. 

“I cannot let you burn me up, nor can I resist you. No mere human can stand in a fire and not be consumed.” ~A.S. Byatt, Possession

Free online Saturday: International Author's Expo, a celebration of literature and creativity from around the world. This event is designed to connect published authors and readers in a virtual setting to explore new books, attend workshops, participate in author Q&A sessions, and more. Saturday, July 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. EDT. 

“Life is not what happened to you but what you remember and how you remember it to retell it.” ~Gabriel García Márquez