The festival will feature readings, book signings, question and answer sessions and more. Amber Sutton | asutton@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/AmberAcker/index.html

Before the record-breaking tornado outbreak of April 27, 2011, about a half dozen monuments had been erected across the state to commemorate deadly twisters. After April 27, Alabama’s tornado memorials more than doubled in number. Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/KKazek/index.html

The question and answer session, which will be free and open to the public, will follow Fowler's appearance at the Alabama Book Festival. Amber Sutton | asutton@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/AmberAcker/index.html

We keep trying to reform education, and it certainly needed it back in the day, when the “separate but equal” lie was the law of the land. But now, decades later, we still tinker around, trying to get it right. Who doesn’t want good schools, good students, good teachers? Beth Thames http://connect.al.com/user/bthames/index.html

Feints and fast breaks, triumph and disaster -- and the bedrock determination of a woman who has helped define women's sports in the U.S. Kay Campbell | kcampbell@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/klcampbel/index.html

Anyone who has ever wanted to start a blog, write a novel, or learn how to get published can attend discussions of a writers group started by Athens State University. Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/KKazek/index.html

Bring one of those 10 books in your beach bag this spring break. Coti Howell | chowell@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/Coti/index.html

More than 100 years after Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created Holmes fictional world, fans are still as fascinated by Irene Adler as the great detective was himself. Find out why when playwright Lee Shackleford discusses “Uncovering Irene Adler” on Saturday, April 6, at 7 p.m. at the main Huntsville-Madison County Public Library, 915 Monroe St. Admission is free. Ann Marie Martin http://connect.al.com/user/ammartin/index.html

For almost a year now, students at Hall-Kent Elementary School have learned about and practiced a form of communication that’s just about extinct now: pen-pal letter writing. Since last fall, two Hall-Kent second grade classes have been writing to undergraduate students at Samford University. This week, they will finally get the chance to meet. Ana Rodriguez | arodriguez@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/arrodriguez/index.html

A lively Saturday at Mobile Public Library. Tamara Ikenberg | tikenberg@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/Ikenberg/index.html

The publishers of Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code have made all ebook versions of the book FREE until March 24, 2013. This promotion is partly [continue]...

The article wants to know why said hipsters would be so enthralled by a Bieber-like pop star and celebrity culture. Joshua Mallory, 31, tells the Daily News, "For all that we pretend to not care, we’re fascinated by celebrity." Ben Flanagan | bflanaga@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/bflanagan/index.html

An assistant at Athens-Limestone Public Library, who began as a cleaning woman at the facility, was named Library Journal’s 2013 Paralibrarian of the Year. Kelly Kazek | kkazek@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/KKazek/index.html

There is a Used Book Sale at the Hoover Library this Saturday (March 16, 10a-5p) and Sunday (2p-5p). Looks like hardbacks and paperbacks will be [continue]...

Cocktails, literature and song. Tamara Ikenberg | tikenberg@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/Ikenberg/index.html

Mobile native Suzanne McKissack Fleet is rubbing elbows with the likes of Tina Fey and Kurt Vonnegut, these days. Lawrence Specker | lspecker@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/lfspecke/index.html

It’s been more than a hundred years since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle introduced his consulting detective to an eager reading world. As the recent Robert Downey Jr. movies, the British TV series “Sherlock” and the American series “Elementary” show, Holmes is more popular than ever. Ann Marie Martin http://connect.al.com/user/ammartin/index.html

Susan Kirkpatrick Smith’s talk will be the final one in this year’s Hertha Heller Forum, which is sponsored by the Friends of the Library. Pat Ammons | pammons@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/pammons/index.html

Primrose School at Liberty Park students celebrated the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day with the spirit of giving. On Friday, March 1, students presented the Birmingham Chapter of Reach Out and Read, a not-for-profit organization committed to promoting literacy through pediatric primary care, with more than 550 books they had collected during a month-long book drive. Ana Rodriguez | arodriguez@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/arrodriguez/index.html

The Murphy Writers Group will host a Spring Writers Event on March 21, at 6 p.m. at Coffee Tree Books and Brew, 7900 Bailey Cove Road. (File photo) HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The Murphy Writers Group will host a Spring... Pat Ammons | pammons@al.com http://connect.al.com/user/pammons/index.html