THURSDAY 5/19

JOHN THACKARA Thackara, director of a “design network” based in Amsterdam and Bangalore, reads from In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World. Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S Main St, 624-6600, 5:30 pm, free. (Also on May 20 at University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.)

JOSEPH BOYDEN Three Day Road is a debut novel set during World War I. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

DAVID RAKOFF The essayist and satirist talks about Fraud (his first book of essays) and Don’t Get Too Comfortable (due in September). The Big Picture, 2505 First Ave, 888-621-2230, 7:30, free, call for tickets.

SARAH FRANKLIN, LESLIE MILLER, KATE CHYNOWETH, CATHERINE GLAYVIA Contributors to The Risks of Sunbathing Topless: And Other Funny Stories from the Road read their stuff. Topless. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

‘CRANKY LITERARY JOURNAL’ ISSUE FIVE READING Featuring poet Matthew Zapruder, as well as Anna Maria Hong, Christine Deavel, and many others. Nordstrom Auditorium, 100 University St, 328-4518, 7 pm, free.

PAUL HUNTER, WILLIE SMITH, GREGORY HISCHAK The poets and writers read. Gallery of the Senses, 1402 E Pike St, 342-6379, 7:45 pm, $5.

FRIDAY 5/20

RAJA ALEM, ALIA MAMDOUH, IBTIHAL SALEM The Arab women writers read their work. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30, free.

SCAVENGING THE FUTURE A reading by authors of speculative fiction, including Lucius Shepard, Elizabeth Hand, Jeffrey Ford, and others. Jewel Box Theater, 2322 Second Ave, 441-5823, 10 am, $10, $8 members.

SATURDAY 5/21

 GINA OCHSNERSee review, this page.Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 3 pm, free.

 DANIEL ALARCON, ADAM MANSBACHAlarcon reads from his “fierce and assured” (Publisher’s Weekly) story collection, War by Candelight. Mansbach reads from Angry Black White Boy, or The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay. Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

ERIC DROOKER, KEITH KNIGHT, ELLEN FORNEY, JOHN LONGHI Writers, artists, miscellany. Confounded Books, 315 E Pike St, 382-3376, 7 pm, free. MONDAY 5/23

JOHN A. GLUSMAN Glusman talks about Conduct Under Fire: Four American Doctors and Their Fight for Life as Prisoners of the Japanese 1941–1945, which Abraham Verghese calls “marvelous.” Elliott Bay Book Company, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

RAJA ALEM, CHOMAN HARDI, IBTIHAL SALEM The writers discuss their work. Seattle Central Public Library, 1000 4th Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, free.

G WAYNE MILLER The Xeno Chronicles: Two Years on the Frontier of Medicine Inside Harvard’s Transplant Research Lab is about xenotransplantation (using animal parts to treat sick people). Town Hall Seattle, 634-3400, 7 pm, $5.

TREVOR CORSON The Secret Life of Lobsters is a nonfiction book all about lobsters. University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free. (Also on May 24 at Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.)

TUESDAY 5/24

ERIC BOGOSIAN The monologist/playwright talks about his novel Wasted Beauty. University Book Store, 634-3400, 7 pm, free.

WEDNESDAY 5/25

THOMAS FRANK The author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? talks about politics. Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave, 624-6600, 7:30 pm, $5.

ROBERT LITTELL The author reads from Legends, a thriller. Third Place Books, 366-3333, 7 pm, free.

 NICOLE KRAUSS The History of Love is a novel narrated by an 80-year-old. Krause published a terrific short story in the New Yorker some months ago. Her first book was Man Walks Into a Room. University Book Store, 624-3400, 7 pm, free.