Going out

        Chris Bohjalian: It's not exactly a book report due, but it's close when the Oprah's Book Club pick author of Midwives hits town to sign and discuss his new Trans-Sister Radio. Be warned: A book club discussion precedes event. 7 p.m. today, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Norwood. 396-8960.

        "Phantom': The national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber's blockbuster Phantom of the Opera oozes into the music of the night for a full month. Opens 8 p.m. today, continues 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 13, Aronoff Center's Procter & Gamble Hall, $15-$67. 241-7469.

        Texas rockabilly: Honky-tonk heaven opens its twangy gates when Wayne “The Train” Hancock, StarDevils and the Blue Moon Boys rip into a tune or 20. 8 p.m. today, Southgate House, 24 E. Third St., Newport. $8-$10. (859) 431-2201.

        Literary Lunch: The boys in blue, at least one of them, goes the literary route when Cincinnati police Lt. Howard Rahtz does a lunch hour discussion of his book Community Policing: A Handbook for Beat Cops and Supervisors. Noon today, Mercantile Library, 414 Walnut St., downtown. $5. 621-0717.

Staying in

        TV picks: NBC repeats the May series finale of The West Wing — pre-empted last week — in which the president (Martin Sheen) curses God in Latin after the death of his secretary (9 p.m., Channels 5, 22).

        • TV Critic John Kiesewetter also says CBS premieres its confusing Wolf Lake (10 p.m., Channels 12, 7), a drama about a strange Twin Peaks-like Washington town where wolves transform into humans.

The Goods

        CD picks: It's a big week for diverse divas.

        • Singer/songwriter Tori Amos goes the cover route on Strange Little Girls (Atlantic; $18.98 CD, $12.98 cassette) a set of songs about women by men, featuring the guitar of Northern Kentucky's Adrian Belew.

        • Soul-rocker Macy Gray returns with Id (Epic; $18.98 CD, $12.98 cassette), featuring a duet with Erykah Badu.

        • Pop-country's Martina McBride celebrates her Greatest Hits (RCA; $18.98 CD, $12.98 cassette), a 17-track disc with 13 hits and four new songs.

        Torch singer Diana Krall shoots us The Look of Love (Verve; $18.98 CD, $12.98 cassette), a string-laden set of standards.

        • On the male side, the defunct Phish releases four three-CD sets and one two-CD set of in-concert soundboard mixes (Elektra; $22.98 two-CDs, $26.98 three-CDs; no cassettes).

        • Cleveland soul man Gerald Levert invites us to Gerald's World (Elektra; $18.98 CD, $12.98 cassette).

Planning Ahead

        24 hours out: The Greater Cincinnati Storytelling Guildspins yarns and tells tales for all ages. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Ellenwood Nature Barn, at Farbach-Werner Nature Preserve, Colerain Avenue and Poole Road, Colerain Township, free. 521-7275.

        48 hours out: Ovation Theater Company opens two weeks of an original adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring — not to be confused with Wagner's zillion-hour operas in the Ring cycle. 8 p.m. Friday, Jarson-Kaplan Theater, Aronoff Center for the Arts, $10-$15. 241-7469.

        72 hours 'til Saturday: The Home Builders Association of Northern Kentucky presents its Annual Tour of Remodeled Homes, featuring jaw-dropping rehab jobs all over Kenton and Campbell counties. Noon-5 p.m., call (859) 331-9500 for tour sites.

        Contact Jim Knippenberg by phone: 768-8513; fax: 768-8330; e-mail: knipenquirer@yahoo.com.

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