At Elliott Bay Book Company, Daniel Arnold discusses his book Early Days in the Range of Light, which is about the early days of mountaineering, back when men used to murder bears with their bare hands just because they felt like it. Needless to say, this will be a manly reading.

Barnes & Noble ups the manliness ante (manteliness?) with Ben Thompson, the author of Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters and Military Commanders to Ever Live. You can almost choke on the testosterone from here*.

If manliness isn't your thing, Richard Paul Evans is up at Third Place Books. The Christmas List is "a new holiday novel of hope, love, and redemption." None of those things are manly.

But the manliest reading of the night is at Pilot Books at 7:30 pm. It's the debut issue of Area Sneaks, a new literary magazine that also explores visual art and publishes portfolios of great artwork. The editors are coming from L.A. to celebrate, along with oulipian local poet and novelist Doug Nufer, who is the Manliest Man of Letters in Seattle. If you haven't seen Nufer dressed up like a park ranger, you do not truly understand what manliness is. He will probably not wear his park ranger outfit tonight, but one would hope that he'll wear something suitably manly instead, like a torn piece of leopard skin.

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.

* Disclaimer: There are women in Badass. They have iron ovaries.