Holy crap there are a lot of events today, including a local author who always reads in town, a too-expensive reading with Po Bronson, and a couple of cooking books.

Jon Katz reads at Elliott Bay Book Company and Third Place Books today. Do animals have spirits? Katz's book Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm tackles that completely inessential (and frankly kind of stupid) question.

Joann Green Byrd reads at Fremont Place Books. Byrd is something called a "newspaper reporter". She reads from her book Calamity: The Heppner Flood of 1903.

Over at Neptune Coffee, Mattox Roesch and Matthew Simmons will read. Roesch's novel Sometimes We're Always Real Same-Same is about a gang member who goes to Alaska, like a frigid Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Simmons wrote A Jello Horse, and I wrote about that here. If you are into young up-and-coming novelists, this is the reading for you.

Lesley Hazleton is at Town Hall. Hazleton is a great local writer who often writes about spirituality. After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia - Sunni Split in Islam is her newest book. This is your non-fiction reading of the night.

At SAM, Nicole Hardy and Peter Pereira will write new poetry to respond to a SAM exhibition titled Everything Under the Sun: Photographs by Imogen Cunningham. Here is what Jen Graves has to say about Cunningham. Her pictures are "racy!"

And at Faire Gallery, authors will read two short stories about Russia. One story is about breaking bad news to Stalin, and one is about the fall of the Iron Curtain. If you just want to hang out over a glass of wine, this is your reading.

Phew! The full readings calendar, including the next week or so, is here. And if you're planning on staying in and you're looking for personalized book recommendations, feel free to tell me the books you like and ask me what to read next over at Questionland.