New York City Books Dec. 12-17

Raven, Wobegon, women’s words, Italian food, New Orleans, drinking are all on the lead-in-to-Christmas week schedule of author appearances and readings.

• Rocker Lou Reed appears at 7 p.m. in downtown Brooklyn at BookCourt,  163 Court St  between Dean and Pacific Sts. to promote his new book The Raven. It includes lyrics and illustrations from his 2003 album of the same name that was inspired by the Edgar Allen Poe tale. Free
• Garrison Keillor brings his seasonal tale A Christmas Blizzard, a takeoff on Dickens featuring a character named James Sparrow from the town of Looseleaf, North Dakota, to McNally Jackson Books, 7 pm, 52 Prince St. between Lafayette and Mulberry. Free.
• Anna Lefler speaks about her new book The CHICKtionary – from A-line to Z Snap, the Words Every Woman Should Know, at 7 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble Upper West Side, 2289 Broadway at  82nd St. The book contains more than 450 words and phrases that women use, and what they really mean when they use them. Free

• Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, the TV chef, appears at 7 pm at the Barnes and Noble Bayside, 23-30 Bell Boulevard at 24 Ave. Her new book Lidia’s Italy in America is a companion to the forthcoming PBS series, explores Italian American cooking from New York pizza to New Orleans muffulettas. Free

• Selected Shorts: NOLA – Jazzy Tales from the Big Easy. As part of this popular series at Symphony Space, Broadway at 95  St. at 7 p.m. Clarke Peters, Patricia Clarkson, Amy Ryan, and Michael Cerveris read from New Orleans material by Eudora Welty, John Kennedy Toole, and Lolis Eric Elie, a writer for the TV series “Treme.” Humorist Roy Blount, Jr., will also be present, along with piano player and singer Henry Butler. $27 for nonmembers.

• Drunken! Careening! Writers! A series Thursdays at 7 pm at  KGM Bar, 85 E 4th St (between Bowery and Second Ave.) that this week features local writers Sinclair Sexsmith, Amy Butcher, Deborah Castellano, Julia Noel Goldman, Anne Grip, D.L. King, Ali Oh and Xan West. Free