D.C.-Area Readings

Despite the losses of numerous important local bookstores in recent years, there are still plenty of opportunities to meet authors in person in the D.C. area. Listings added in the past week are preceded with an asterisk (*). Many, but not all, events are free. I encourage you to contact the venue regarding ticket charges, or to confirm that the event is happening; I draw information for these listings from the venue Web sites, which may be inaccurate or out of date. Contact info for venues that regularly host events is at the bottom of the page.

These listings of upcoming author readings and signings are by no means complete. If you’re an author coming to town, or if you’re with a bookstore or other venue hosting a reading and you’d like to be considered for inclusion here, please drop me a line. The listings are updated every Saturday.

November 21
Tinesha Davis, Holler at the Moon (Borders Largo)
Stephanie Duckworth-Elliott, Poneasequa, Goddess of The Waters (Busboys & Poets 14th & V)
Dwayne Joseph, Betrayal (Borders Largo)
Thomas Mallon, Yours Ever (Politics & Prose)
Jayne O’Donnell, Gen BuY (Borders Tysons Corner)
Robert M. Poole, On Hallowed Ground (Politics & Prose)

November 22
Contributors, The Poet’s Cookbook (Writer’s Center)
Brad Leithauser, The Art Student’s War (Politics & Prose)
Patricia Sullivan, Lift Every Voice (Politics & Prose)
Charles Toftoy, It’s In The Eyes (Barnes & Noble Arlington)

November 23
* Steve Luxenberg, Annie’s Ghosts (Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 South Park Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland; 301-656-2797)
Jamie MacVicar, The Advance Man: A Journey Into the World of the Circus (Arlington Public Library)
Orhan Pamuk, The Museum of Innocence (Smithsonian Associates)
David Plouffe, The Audacity to Win (Sixth & I Historic Synagogue)
Steven V. Roberts, From Every End of This Earth: 13 Families and the New Lives They Made in America (Shirlington Public Library)

November 24
James Bradley, The Imperial Cruise (Politics & Prose)
Anthony Horowitz, Crocodile Tears (Borders Fairfax)
Ralph Nader, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! (Borders L Street)

November 28
Tracey Gold Bennett, Historic Photos of Washington D.C. Monuments (Barnes & Noble Arlington)
Jason Killian Meath, Hollywood on the Potomac, DC (Barnes & Noble Arlington)

November 30
Peter S. Goodman, Past Due: The End of Easy Money and the Renewal of the American Economy (Busboys & Poets Shirlington/Shirlington Public Library)
Denis Lipman, A Yank Back to England (Politics & Prose)
Charlie Murphy, The Making of a Stand-Up Guy (Borders L Street)

December 1
Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals (Sixth & I Historic Synagogue)
Walter Isaacson, American Sketches (Politics & Prose)
Tom G. Palmer, Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice (Cato Institute)
* Carmen M. Reinhart, This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Reiter’s)
Zane, Total Eclipse of the Heart (Borders Largo)

December 2
Lidia Bastianich, Lidia Cooks From the Heart of Italy (Smithsonian Associates)
Lars Brownworth, Lost to the West (Smithsonian Associates)
Barbara Ehrenreich, Bright-Sided (Busboys & Poets 14th & V)
Denis Lipman, A Yank Back to England (Barnes & Noble Rockville)
Jason Killian Meath, Hollywood on the Potomac, DC (Barnes & Noble Downtown)
Robert Merry, A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk and the Conquest of the American Continent (Politics & Prose)
Deborah Tannen, You Were Always Mom’s Favorite!: Sisters in Conversation Throughout Their Lives (National Press Club)
* David Wessel, In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic (Arlington Central Library)

December 3
Trina Hahnemann, The Scandinavian Cookbook (Politics & Prose)
Greg Mortenson, Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan (Sixth & I Historic Synagogue)
* Aiden Shaw, Sordid Truths (Lambda Rising)

December 4
Lidia Masticchio Bastianich, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes (Borders Baileys Crossroads)
Lisa Selin Davis, Belly; Nancy Krygowski, Velocity; and Aaron Smith, Blue on Blue Ground (Writer’s Center)
* Rique Johnson, A Dangerous Return (Borders Largo)
PEN/Malamud Award Memorial Reading featuring Amy Hempel and Alistair MacLeod (Folger Shakespeare Library)

December 5
* Harrine Freeman, How To Get Out of Debt (Borders Largo)
Dajani Lana, My Letter to President Barack Obama (Barnes & Noble Arlington)
* Alexander Malakhoff, Growing Up in Iran (Glencarlyn Public Library, 300 South Kensington Street, Arlington, Virginia; 703-228-6548)
* Sarah Palin, Going Rogue (BJ’s Wholesale Club,
13053 Fair Lakes Shopping Center, Fairfax, Virginia; 703-803-0200)
Shawn K. Stout, Fiona Finkelstein, Big Time Ballerina! (Barnes & Noble Rockville)
Trisha Thomas, Nappily in Bloom (Barnes & Noble Reston)

December 6
Deborah Ager, Midnight Voices, and Reb Livingston, Your Ten Favorite Words (Writer’s Center)
* L.M. Elliott, A Troubled Peace (Borders Fairfax)
* Rique Johnson, A Dangerous Return (Borders Largo)

December 7
Ken Burns, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (Barnes & Noble Downtown)
* Antonia Juhasz, The Tyranny of Oil (Busboys & Poets 5th & K)
* Edward Luce, In Spite of the Gods (Shirlington Public Library)
Jane O'Connor, Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas (Borders Fairfax)
* Jane O’Connor, Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas (Borders Fairfax)
Amber Tamblyn, Bang Ditto (Borders L Street)

December 8
Kimberly Dozier, Breathing the Fire (Arlington Public Library)
* Kevin Wayne Johnson, Give God The Glory (Borders Largo)
Roger G. Kennedy, When Art Worked: The New Deal, Art, and Democracy (National Archives)
Jane O’Connor, Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas (Politics & Prose)

December 9
Peter Carlson, K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude, Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America’s Most Unlikely Tourist (National Archives)
* Carlos Alberto Montaner, Latin Americans and the West (Cato Institute)
Tom Paxton, The Marvelous Toy (Politics & Prose) Event Canceled

December 10
* James Giordano, Pain: Mind, Meaning and Medicine (Reiter’s)
Bruce “Cousin Brucie” Morrow, Rock & Roll…and the Beat Goes On (National Press Club)

December 11
* Tinesha Davis, Holler at the Moon (Borders Largo)

December 12
* Donna Cable, So You Have a Chronic Illness? What Now? (Borders Largo)
Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen, To Try Men’s Souls: A Novel of George Washington and the Fight for American Freedom (Barnes & Noble Reston)
Rebecca O’Connor, Lift (Busboys & Poets Shirlington)
* Hank Steuver, Tinsel (Barnes & Noble Reston)
* Gregory Williams, Inside the Belly of the Whale (Borders Largo)

December 13
Jacqueline Dembar Greene, Candlelight for Rebecca (Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington)
Network of Concerned Anthropologists, The Counterinsurgency Manual (Busboys & Poets Shirlington, Shirlington Public Library)

December 14
Lucie Brock-Broido, The Master Letters (Folger Shakespeare Library)

December 16
Annette Gordon-Reed, The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (National Archives)
Robert Merry, A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk and the Conquest of the American Continent (National Archives)

December 19
* Del Walters, Wereth, The Black Parade (Borders Largo)

January 6
Joel Richard Paul, Unlikely Allies (Borders L Street)

January 7
Walter Isaacson, American Sketches (Borders L Street)

January 9
* Peter Earnest, The Real Spy’s Guide to Becoming a Spy (Borders Fairfax)

January 11
Kim Addonizio and Kyle Dargan (Folger Shakespeare Library)
Steve Berry, The Paris Vendetta (Borders Baileys Crossroads)
* Peniel Joseph, Dark Days, Bright Nights: From Black Power to Barack Obama (Busboys & Poets 14th & V)

January 12
Steve Luxenberg, Annie’s Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret (Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington)

January 14
Tracy Chevalier, Remarkable Creatures (Smithsonian Associates)
Gwen Ifill, The Breakthrough (University of the District of Columbia/Windows Lounge, 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC)

January 15
Elizabeth Kostova, The Swan Thieves (Borders Baileys Crossroads)

January 17
* David Gewanter, War Bird; Wayne Karlin, Wandering Souls: Journeys with the Dead and Living in Vietnam (Writer’s Center)
Eric Lotke, 2044 (Shirlington Public Library/Busboys & Poets Shirlington)

January 18
Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project (Borders Friendship Heights)
Richard Wilkinson, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger (Busboys & Poets 14th & V)

January 20
Danielle Ofri, Medicine in Translation (Barnes & Noble Bethesda)
Richard Sale, Clinton’s Secret Wars: The Evolution of a Commander in Chief (Barnes & Noble Downtown)
Jeanette Walls, Half-Broke Horses (Borders Baileys Crossroads)

January 21
Stephen Hunter, I, Sniper (Borders Baileys Crossroads)

January 24
* Jami Attenberg, The Melting Season (Writer’s Center)

January 25
Josh Sundquist, Just Don’t Fall (Borders Baileys Crossroads)

January 26
* Amy Bach, Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court (Busboys & Poets 14th & V)

January 28
* Walter Isaacson, American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and Heroes of a Hurricane (Barnes & Noble Bethesda)
Elisa New, Jacob’s Cane: A Jewish Family’s Journey from the Four Lands of Lithuania to the Ports of London and Baltimore; A Memoir in Five Generations (Barnes & Noble Rockville)

February 1
Susan Orlean and George Saunders (Folger Shakespeare Library)

February 7
* Contributors to Full Moon on K Street: Poems About Washington, DC (Writer’s Center)
Lauren Conrad, Sweet Little Lies (Borders Fairfax)

February 8
Charles Wright, Scar Tissue (Folger Shakespeare Library)

February 10
Ann Mah, Ann Mah (Borders L Street)

February 16
* Chris Bohjalian, Secrets of Eden (Borders L Street)

February 18
* Alex Berenson, The Midnight House (Border Baileys Crossroads)

February 19
* Marianne Villanueva, Mayor of Roses; Steve Fellner, All Screwed Up (Writer’s Center)

February 23
Peter Carlson, K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America’s Most Unlikely Tourist (Arlington Public Library)

March 1
Patricia Smith and John Burnside (Folger Shakespeare Library)

March 7
* Nancy Naomi Carlson, Stone Lyre: The Poems of Rene Char; Dora Malech, Shore Order Ocean (Writer’s Center)

March 9
David Plotz, Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible (Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington)

March 14
* Katie Bowler, State Street; John Murillo, Up Jump the Boogie (Writer’s Center)

March 15
E.L. Doctorow and Ivy Meeropol (Folger Shakespeare Library)

March 19
* Kathleen Flenniken, Famous; Anthony Varallo, Out Loud (Writer’s Center)

March 26
Walter Mosley, The Long Fall (Folger Shakespeare Library)

April 8
Jane Hirshfield, poems on Georgia O’Keeffe (The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st Street NW)

April 12
Vendela Vida and Heidi Julavits (Folger Shakespeare Library)

April 16
Robin Gerber, Barbie and Ruth: The Story of the World’s Most Famous Doll and the Woman Who Created Her (Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington)
James Shapiro, Contested Will: The Shakespeare Authorship Controversy (Folger Shakespeare Library)

April 30
Isabel Allende (Washington National Cathedral)

May 30
W.S. Merwin, The Shadow of Sirius (Folger Shakespeare Library)

May 8
30th annual PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction ceremony (Folger Shakespeare Library)

May 18
Richard Wilbur (Folger Shakespeare Library)

Venues:

Arlington Public Library
1015 North Quincy Street
Arlington, VA
703-228-5990

Shirlington Public Library
4200 Campbell Avenue
Arlington, VA
703-228-6545

Barnes & Noble Alexandria
3651 Jefferson Davis Hwy
Alexandria, VA
703-299-9124

Barnes & Noble Arlington
2800 Clarendon Blvd. Suite 500
Arlington, VA
703-248-8244

Barnes & Noble Bethesda
4801 Bethesda Avenue
Bethesda, MD
301-986-1761

Barnes & Noble Bowie
15455 Emerald Way
Bowie, MD
301-809-1552

Barnes & Noble Downtown
555 12th St. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-347-0176

Barnes & Noble Fairfax
12193 Fair Lakes Promenade Drive
Fairfax, VA
(703) 278-0300

Barnes & Noble Gaithersburg
21 Grand Corner Ave.
Gaithersburg, MD
(301) 721-0860

Barnes & Noble Georgetown
3040 M Street NW
Washington, D.C.
202-965-9880

Barnes & Noble Reston
1851 Fountain Drive
Reston, VA
703-437-9490

Barnes & Noble Rockville
12089 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD
301-881-0237

Barnes & Noble Springfield
6646 Loisdale Road
Springfield, VA
703-971-5383

Barnes & Noble Tysons Corner
7851 L. Tysons Corner Center
McLean, VA
703-506-2937

Borders Baileys Crossroads
5871 Crossroads Center Way
Baileys Crossroads, VA
703-998-0404

Borders Bowie
4420 Mitchellville Road
Bowie, MD
(301) 352-5560

Borders Fairfax
11054 Lee Hwy.
Fairfax, VA
703-359-8420

Borders Friendship Heights
5333 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-686-8270

Borders Largo
931A Capital Centre Blvd.
Largo, MD
301-499-2173

Borders L Street
1801 K St. NW
Washington D.C.
202-466-4999

Borders Rockville
11301 Rockville Pike
Kensington, MD
301-816-1067

Borders Silver Spring
8518 Fenton St.
Silver Spring, MD
301-585-0550

Borders Springfield
6701 Frontier Dr.
Springfield, VA
703-924-4894

Borders Tysons Corner
8027 Leesburg Pike
Vienna, VA
703-556-7766

Busboys & Poets 14th & V (@busboysandpoets)
2021 14th St. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-387-7638

Busboys & Poets 5th & K
1025 5th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
202-789-2227

Busboys & Poets Shirlington
4251 South Campbell Ave
Arlington, VA 22206
703-379-9756

Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC
202-789-5229

Corcoran Gallery of Art
500 17th St. NW
Washington, D.C.
(202) 639-1700

Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol St. SE
Washington, D.C.
202-544-4600

George Mason University
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA
703-993-1000

The George Washington University Lisner Auditorium
730 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC
202-994-6800

Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
801 K Street, NW
Washington, DC
202-383-1800

Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington (JCCGW)
6125 Montrose Rd.
Rockville, MD
301-348-3805

Lambda Rising
1625 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, D.C.
202-462-6969

Library of Congress (@librarycongress)
101 Independence Avenue S.E.
Washington, D.C.
202-707-8000

National Archives (@archives_gov)
700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C.
866-272-6272

National Press Club
529 14th Street NW
Washington, D.C.
202-662-7500

Politics & Prose (@Politics_Prose)
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-364-1919

Presse Bookstore
1614 Wisconsin Ave. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-338-1594

Reiter’s Books
1990 K St. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-223-3327

Sixth & I Historic Synagogue (@sixthandi)
600 I St. NW
Washington, D.C.

Smithsonian Associates
1100 Jefferson Dr. SW
Washington, D.C.
202-633-3030

Washington DCJCC (@16thstreetj)
1529 Sixteenth St. NW
Washington, D.C.
202-518-9400

The Writer’s Center
4508 Walsh Street
Bethesda, MD
301-654-8664