Holy cow, there are a ton of readings tonight.

Three children’s book authors will read from their work at two different readings across town from each other, and there’s also a book about maximizing your college experience. At Elliott Bay Book Company, too, there’s a “a laugh-out-loud…estrogen-fueled dramed[y].”

Up at Third Place Books, Diane Hammond reads from Hannah’s Dream, which is an indictment of “our ability to properly care for our elephant friends.” And at Seattle Mystery Bookshop and Elliott Bay, Marc Lecard reads from his new mystery Tiny Little Troubles, which seems to be about a nanotechnologist falling in love with a stripper, and a conspiracy.

And! At Seattle Public Library, Paul Auster reads from his new book Man in the Dark. Auster is a big damn deal. And I feel the need to say this because, for a while there, Auster was not a big damn deal. True, he wrote New York Trilogy, which is an amazing book that most people who’ve read it would agree is a modern classic. But Auster had kind of a decline there for a bit, bottoming out with Timbuktu, which is a book from the point of view of a dog. But Auster’s last few books, Travels in the Scriptorium, Oracle Night, and Brooklyn Follies, are among the strongest in his career. He seems to be getting the hang of this novelling thing.

And! If novels aren’t your thing, the Richard Hugo House is hosting the first Cheap Wine and Poetry reading of the 2008-2009 season. Wine is a buck a glass all night. Tonight is a special lady-themed reading, with poets like Brangien Davis, Karen Finneyfrock, Jennifer Borges Foster, and Kary Wayson. The nice thing about this reading series is that the readers always know how to read poetry and make it entertaining. (The wine doesn’t hurt, either.) Between Paul Auster and Cheap Wine and Poetry, there’s something in the reading world for you tonight.

The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here.