Events for the Week

Special note: The Washington Post is running a Best Bets campaign for all the places to go and things to do in the D.C. area. Go and vote for your favorite eateries, clubs, museums, and yes, bookstores. Help out the local, independent businesses by voting for them over the mega-chains.

11 Monday

7 P.M. Elizabeth Kostova reads from and signs her new novel, The Historian, at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-364-1919.

7 P.M. Omar Tyree is the man about town this week, signing his new novel, Boss Lady, everywhere possible. He starts At Books-A-Million, 7000 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover, Md., 443-755-0211. He will also sign on Tuesday, July 12, at 5 p.m. at B. Dalton Booksellers, Union Station, 50 Massachusetts Ave. NE, 202-289-1724, and again at 6:30 p.m. at Karibu Books, the Mall at Prince Georges, 3500 East-West Hwy., 301-559-1140.

7:30 P.M. Jennifer Weiner will read and sign her new novel Little Earthquakes at Barnes and Noble, 4801 Bethesda Ave., Bethesda, Md. 301-986-1761.

12 Tuesday

Noon. David Poyer discusses and signs his new historical novel, That Anvil of Our Souls: A Novel of the Monitor and the Merrimack, at the U.S. Naval Museum, Washington Navy Yard, 805 Kidder Breese St. SE. For security reasons, call 202-433-4995 at least 24 hours in advance to RSVP; visit this site for further details.

6:30 P.M. Geneva Holliday signs her new novel, Groove, at Karibu Books-Bowie Town Center, 15624 Emerald Way, 301-352-4110.

7 P.M. Helen Oyeyemi reads from and signs her new novel, The Icarus Girl, at Borders-Silver Spring, 8518 Fenton St., 301-585-0550.

7:30 P.M. Donald Illich and Jonathan Vaile read from their work as part of the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series held at Miller' Cabin, Picnic Grove #6, Beach Dr. at the Military Rd. overpass in Rock Creek Park, 301-587-4954.

7:30 P.M. Curtis Sittenfeld reads from and signs her novel, Prep, at the Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase, Md., 301-656-2797.

13 Wednesday

14 Thursday

Noon. The Smithsonian Institution Libraries present a lecture, "The U.S. Naval Observatory Through a Novelist's Eye," by Thomas Mallon , drawn from his novel Two Moons, at the National Museum of American History, Carmichael Auditorium, 14th St. and Constitution Ave. NW, 202-633-1000.

6:30 P.M. Leslie Milk, Washingtonian magazine lifestyles editor, talks with mystery writer Sara Paretsky about her writing and her plucky heroine, V.I. Warshawski. They also discuss Sisters in Crime, an organization of authors, readers, publishers, agents, booksellers, and librarians who share an affection for the mystery genre and who support women writers in the field. Book signing follows. This is a Smithsonian Members Program. $18, general admission; $15, members; for security reasons a photo ID required. Location: Navy Memorial Auditorium, 7th St. & Pennsylvania Ave., NW

7 P.M. Painter and art historian Jonathan Weinberg discusses and signs Male Desire: The Homoerotic in American Art at Lambda Rising, 1625 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-462-6969.

7:30 P.M. The Writer's Center is host to a group of journalists, editors and professors visiting from China. Meet them and join them in an informal discussion on writing and publishing in China and the U.S. Location: Reading Room at the Writer’s Center. 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD 20815. 301 654-8664

15 Friday

16 Saturday

10 A.M. Explore your creative side and learn how to get started in food writing for newspapers and magazines. Author Dianne Jacob provides an overview of various types of food writing, from cookbooks to restaurant reviews. Then 3 award-winning writers -- New York Times food reporter Kim Severson, The Washington Post chief restaurant critic Tom Sietsema, and Vogue magazine food critic and columnist Jeffrey Steingarten -- offer practical advice and insider tips. Book signing follows. This is a Smithsonian Members Program. $131, general admission; $85, members. Location: S. Dillon Ripley Center, National Mall, Washington, D.C.

1 P.M. Nora Roberts will sign her new mystery, Origin in Death (written under the pseudonym J.D. Robb). Authors Sabrina Jefferies, Donna Kauffman, Victoria Thompson and Diane Whiteside will also appear at the 10th anniversary celebration at Turn the Page Bookstore, 18 North Main St., Boonsboro, Md. 301-432-4588.

17 Sunday

4 P.M. T.P. Luce, aka Ellis Marsalis III, reads poetry from his book ThaBloc. Minás Gallery, 815 W. 36th St., Baltimore. 410-732-4258.

5 P.M. Mark Helprin reads from and signs his new novel, Freddy and Fredericka, at Politics and Prose, 202-364-1919.