Why are the Cambridge equivalent of rock stars coming out for the retirement party of a Harvard clerk – the guy who books rooms as a scheduling assistant for Harvard’s Center for Government and International Studies?

The sequel to “To Kill a Mockingbird” arrives Tuesday with questions about whether reclusive author Harper Lee wanted it published at all, but Cambridge readers are embracing the new novel.

It’s not just short fiction wanted for the March 1 publication of “Microchondria II: 42 More Short Short Stories.” Editors want original art for its covers.

There’s a good chance for a meta moment Friday at Porter Square Books as Carrie Russell reads from her debut novel, “Drowning Cactus”: The novel includes scenes within Porter Square Books itself.

Poet Marilyn Nelson headlines a series of free evening readings that runs Jan. 2-9 at Lesley University.

Somerville’s Liz Prince put up with a lot as a girl who didn’t want to be girly. Hear about what went into her graphic novel “Tomboy” Thursday evening.

Somerville’s Raúl Gonzalez will be in Porter Square to introduce “Lowriders,” an introduction to science and a subculture with Oregon’s Cathy Camper.

A talk with author Andrea Davis Pinkney – such as tonight’s – is likely to be as inspiring a literary time as one could imagine.

The New Yorker’s George Packer talks about the new America in his ‘The Unwinding’ and at a free lecture Wednesday at Lesley University.

Boston reporter and thriller author Hank Phillippi Ryan is coming with the latest in her Jane Ryland and Jake Brogan series, and Kate Clark Flora is with her.