1. Tonight, you have two events that could scarcely be more opposite: Frank Close reads at Town Hall from his book The Infinity Puzzle, which is about the Large Hadron Collider and the search for the Higgs boson. And then University Book Store hosts internet humorist Maddox tonight, too. I’m not a Maddox fan, but his new book, I Am Better Than Your Kids, is pretty fucking funny. It’s over 300 full-color pages of a grown man making fun of artwork made by kids. The book’s graphic designer should be shot (the font is an atrocity) but this is a rare humor book that is actually funny. What’s it going to be—highbrow or lowbrow?
2. This is not strictly book-related, but Urban Craft Uprising is one of my favorite annual events. (And they do have an array of handmade blank books, among other book accessories; for God’s sake, drop the Moleskine and pick up something more inventive, will you?)
3. Sandra Chait reads at the Northwest African American Museum on Sunday. Chait is the author of Seeking Salaam: Ethiopians, Eritreans, and Somalis in the Pacific Northwest. From what I hear from a friend who’s reading it, the book is maybe a little too ambitious—those are three vastly different cultures, and lumping them all together doesn’t do them justice, individually—but it’s absolutely a worthwhile portrait of immigration in Seattle in the 21st century.
4. The readings calendar will tell you about everything else going on this weekend.