There’s a hell of a lot going on tonight, including a story about ice-bound explorers, sustainable housing, and a cocktail party for a cookbook up at Third Place Books the Women’s University Club, and many others that I’m about to tell you all about right now.

At Seattle Public Library, it’s time for the Washington State Book Awards, which I rather cruelly described in the reading calendar as “the Oscars of the Washington state literary community—without all the glamor, good looks, or excitement.” But really, how many chances to get to an awards ceremony do you have in any given year? Here’s a list of the winners. I assume that many or all of them will be there tonight:

FICTION Matt Ruff: Bad Monkeys POETRY Samuel Green: The Grace of Necessity HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY Coll Thrush: Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place GENERAL NONFICTION David R. Montgomery: Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations SCANDIUZZI CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARD Picture book: George Shannon: Rabbit’s Gift (Laura Dronzek, illustrator) Book for middle grades and young adults (10- to 18-year-old readers): Sherman Alexie: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

There are two readings at Town Hall tonight. Russell Shorto will read from his book about the conflict between science and religion. Shorto! I feel like when I say that aloud, I should get a super-power of some sort. And Dave Zirin chimes in on the crazy new “sports” fad that everybody’s talking about with A People’s History of Sports in the United States.

And at Elliott Bay Book Company, Jonathan Carroll, whose website defines him as a “hyper-fiction” author, reads from his newest book. Carroll is heavily endorsed by Neil Gaiman. I haven’t read his new one, but if you’re a Gaiman fan, you should check out Carroll either tonight, or at his reading tomorrow night.

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