Holy God it is busy tonight.

First, two readings that are outside our traditional purview: Isabel Allende reads in Bellevue at noon at the Meydenbauer Center. And then tonight at Orca Books (which could well be my favorite bookstore in Olympia), Benjamin Parzybok reads from Couch. I loved Couch, and so if you're in the Oly area and you love exciting debut novels, you should definitely check it out.

Back in Seattle, The Paranormal Bender Tour smears its ectoplasm all over University Book Store. Four novelists who write urban fantasy, including the authors of Zombie Jailbait and Road Trip of the Living Dead, read from their work. If you're into this sort of thing, this is the thing for you.

At Elliott Bay Book Company, Blake Bailey reads from his new biography of John Cheever. This book has been all the rage in all the big book review papers (all two of them, I guess.) It is a massive biography, and it is about John Cheever. Now you know if you're interested or not.

At Town Hall, Stanley B. Greenberg, who has advised politicians like Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and Nelson Mandela, reads from Dispatches from the War Room: In the Trenches with Five Extraordinary Leaders. This is an unmissable reading if you're into politics at all.

And at Open Books up in Wallingford, Zach Savich reads from his collection of poetry. Zach Savich was entry number 9 on the Seattle Poetry Chain. You can read his poem here.

It's impossible to pick a reading of the night from this lot. All of these readings look interesting: It's a draw.

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