Much Ado About Books is The Jacksonville Public Library’s annual literary and fundraising event coming up on Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28. The book festival takes place downtown Jacksonville at the Main Library, 303 N. Laura Street. Workshops, luncheons and panel discussions are part of the event. Many of the events are free, but some require tickets. Call (904) 630-2665 or visit www.muchadoaboutbooks.com for more info.

Here is a list of participating authors.

– David Baldacci has published 15 suspense thrillers and two young adult novels. His latest title is Divine Justice.

– Janet Cheatham Bell’s latest book is The Time and Place That Gave Me Life. She has published 10 books, including Victory of the Spirit, Stretch Your Wings and Till Victory Is Won.

– Steve Berry has 7 million copies of his books currently in print worldwide. Berry has earned spots on the best-seller lists of The New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly and BookSense. Berry’s seventh novel, The Charlemagne Pursuit, came out in December.

– C.J. Box is the author of nine novels, including the award-winning Joe Pickett series. St. Martin’s Press will publish his latest stand-alone thriller, Three Weeks to Say Goodbye, by the end of the month.

– Tracy Brown has written five novels, a few short stories and numerous poems. Her novels include White Lines, Criminal Minded, Black and Dime Piece. Her latest book, Twisted, is a tale of love, betrayal and redemption.

– Diane deGroat has done illustrations for more than 120 children’s books. Her picture books about Gilbert the opossum include New York Times best-seller Roses are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink and Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet.

– Marisa Carbone Finotti is a journalist and former teacher who lives in Atlantic Beach. The author’s first middle-grade novel, The Treasure of Amelia Island, is published by Pineapple Press. It is about the Kingsley family and plantation and is set in 1813, when Florida was still a Spanish colony.

– Alex Flinn’s novels, Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point, Nothing to Lose, Fade to Black and Diva (a companion novel to Breathing Underwater) have received numerous honors. Her latest book, Beastly, has been optioned for a feature film.

– Anne D. LeClaire is a former actress, radio news reporter and op-ed columnist. Her work has appeared in Redbook, the Boston Sunday Globe, Yankee and the Sunday New York Times. LeClaire’s memoir, Listening Below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence, will be published by HarperCollins in early 2009.

– Paul Malmont is a copy director at an interactive advertising agency in New York. He has written for the Cartoon Network, VH1.com, Pfizer and Microsoft. His second novel, Jack London in Paradise, will be published in early 2009.

– Carla Neggers is the author of more than 50 novels, including The Angel, The Widow and Cold Pursuit.

– Lois Simon is a professional artist. Simon formerly owned an interior design company and served as curator of the Cultural Center of Ponte Vedra Beach. The artist and designer-turned-author has written three children’s books. The most recent, Mac (The Story of A Happy Apple), was co-illustrated with her grandson.

– John Stauffer is chair of the History of American Civilization and Professor of English at Harvard University. His first book, The Black Hearts of Men: Radical Abolitionists and the Transformation of Race won numerous awards. Stauffer is also the co-author of Meteor of War: The John Brown Story and the editor of the Modern Library edition of the Frederick Douglass book My Bondage and My Freedom.

-    Adriana Trigiani is a novelist, screenwriter, playwright, producer, director, actor, documentary filmmaker and comedian. She adapted her own novel, Big Stone Gap, for the screen. Trigiani will direct the film version, which went into production in the fall of 2008.

About Much Ado About Books
Much Ado About Books is Jacksonville’s largest literary event, bringing national, regional and local authors together with book lovers. The program supports reading for all community members regardless of age and highlights local resources supporting the City’s literacy initiative.