At the Ballard Branch of the Seattle Public Library tonight, Laurie Halse Anderson will read. Forge is the newest book by Anderson, who is the author of Chains and other one-word-titled young adult books including Speak, Catalyst, Prom, and Twisted. My intern loves her, and that is why this reading is worth your attention.

At the Central Library downtown, Andrew Lam reads. Lam is the author of East Eats West: Writing in Two Hemispheres, and tonight he will be discussing the clash of American and Vietnamese cultures.

Mark Kurlansky is at Elliott Bay Book Company tonight. You may know Kurlansky as the author of Salt, which is a book about the history of salt that somehow managed to be interesting. Tonight, he reads from his new novel, Edible Stories: A Novel in Sixteen Parts. It is food-related fiction.

And University Book Store hosts William Dietrich tonight. The author of The Final Forest: The Battle for the Last Great Trees of the Pacific Northwest wants to tell you a story about trees.

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 something to read, you can get personalized book recommendations from myself and a team of 5 expert booksellers from Third Place Books over at Questionland. Tell us what books you've loved, what subject you'd like to learn about, or what kind of person you're looking to give a book to and we'll have a few great recommendations for you in no time flat. Ask away!