We have a mystery, a novel about a woman becoming a barista, an open mic night, and a couple other events going on tonight.

Up at Third Place Books, Megan Chance reads from The Spiritualist, which is about death at a séance. I haven’t read it, and so I can’t endorse it. I did read a book a few years ago on the same subject, called Inamorata, which was pretty good. So, you know, if this sounds like something you’re interested in, go and listen to the reading to check it out and if it doesn’t work for you, pick up Inamorata. Reading problems solved!

At Elliott Bay Book Company, Dalia Sofer celebrates the paperback release of The Septembers of Shiraz. This is another one that I didn’t read, because it struck me as one of those Kite Runner-y books, intended to show book club members that people in Iran are just like us, you know, weighed down with conflicted feelings and melodramatic situations and whatnot. But then I met people who read the book and liked it and hated The Kite Runner. So now I don’t know what to think.

Richard Preston, author of The Hot Zone, is at Town Hall, reading from Panic in Level 4. There are stories about men with two noses, and stories about finding the Ebola Patient Zero. If you want to up your paranoia levels, be sure to attend.

Lastly, and bestly, at Seattle Public Library, Russell Banks reads from his new nonfiction collection, Dreaming Up in America. I feel as though Russell Banks never gets the respect that he deserves. The man wrote The Sweet Hereafter, which is one of the best books written last century, and a book that I read right after September 11th. It kept me from going apeshit. True, he wrote some bad, early books, but I will follow him forever just for that one book. And you should, too.

Full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is up for your edification.