September promises some great events for Baltimore-area book lovers, and now is a good time to mark your calendar. Here are some highlights:

-- The Baltimore Book Festival takes place in Mount Vernon on the weekend of Sept. 25-27, with authors such as James McBride (shown here), who wrote "The Color of Water" and "Song Yet Sung" -- the choice for this fall's One Maryland One Book statewide reading program. Other authors include Buzz Aldrin, Gwen Ifill, Amiri Baraka and Farai Chideya.

-- The annual Mencken Day event at the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Sept. 12 includes a lecture on "Bryan Debates Mencken: The Confrontation We Missed," by Dr. Michael Kazin, professor of history at Georgetown University and author of "A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan."

-- As part of the George Peabody Library's ongoing exhibition, “A View of the Parade: H. L. Mencken and American Magazines,” Mencken scholar Richard Schrader will deliver the keynote address at a reception held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sept 12. Schrader, a professor in the English Department at Boston College, wrote "H. L. Mencken: A Descriptive Bibliography" and "H. L. Mencken: A Documentary Volume". RSVP to Stacie Spence at libraryfriends@jhu.edu or 410.516.7943.

-- Also on Sept. 12, at the Barnes & Noble in Towson, 20 authors from the Baltimore area will meet the public and sign copies of books on subjects and genres from fiction to sports to history to children’s books. Steve Luxenberg, author of the “Annie’s Ghost”, best-selling historical romance writer Mary Jo Putney, photographer Roger Miller, and P. M. Forni, author of a very popular series on civility will be there. (For information on when a particular author will appear, call 410-296-7021.)

-- The Library of Congress' National Book Festival will be held Sept. 26 in Washington. Authors in the star-studded lineup include: John Irving, Marilynne Robinson, John Grisham, Junot Diaz, Judy Blume, Jodi Picoult and Sue Monk Kidd.