Shirley Verrett
One of the great opera singers of the 20th century, Verrett was also one of the first African Americans to achieve stardom in that elusive field. She's written a book about it: I Never Walked Alone: The Autobiography of an American Singer. Borders-Downtown, 708 SW 3rd Ave, 221-9814, 7 pm, free
* Arctic Wildlife Refuge
Subhankar Banerjee's gorgeous collection of photos depicting life in the Arctic (birds, caribou, polar bears, and more) was on high-traffic display at the Smithsonian until President Asshole and his Congress of Clowns decided to try and drill in the Wildlife Refuge. The photos were immediately moved to a low-traffic area of the museum, and the commentary written for them by former president Jimmy Carter vanished like smoke. It's a beautiful world. Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 238-1668, 7:30 pm, free
* Mark Russell & Moe Bowstern
The Independent Publishing Resource Center is now hosting First Thursday art exhibits and Reading Frenzy wants to ride the gravy train with a coinciding monthly reading series featuring authors who utilize the IPRC. Russell's the editor of the Penny Dreadful rag, while Bowstern self-publishes short stories, among other things. Reading Frenzy, 921 SW Oak, 274-1449, 7 pm, free
* Quality of Life Report
Fans of Daum's essays will know that she writes a lot about how her expensive, indulgent New York lifestyle forced her into the sticks of the Midwest. Her new novel is about the very same thing. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free
* Anthony Swofford
War interest may be fading, but local boy Swofford, author of the brilliant Gulf War memoir Jarhead, just keeps on ticking. Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway, 284-1726, 7 pm, free
Karen X. Tulchinsky
A Jewish lesbian takes on her family, which features her AIDS activist cousin, her wise guy uncle, and her Donahue-loving mother, in Tulchinsky's new book Love and Other Ruins. In Other Words, 3734 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 232-6003, 7 pm, free
Zero to Fifty
Nothin' hotter than a chick with a car. Kate Lake's owned lots of cars, repaired lots of cars, and probably gotten her groove on in lots of cars. She'll share her memoir about a life with cars tonight. Powell's City of Books, 1005 W Burnside St, 228-4651, 7:30 pm, free
Hack Fest
Or: In Information Lies Power. Rael Dornfest and Rob Flickenger will share their books on hacking, including Google Hacks, a tome on accessing Google's enormous amounts of data as efficiently as possible. Powell's Technical books, 33 NW Park Ave, 228-3906, 7 pm
* Hobart and Monkeybicycle
"Reading, music, juggling and kittens" advertises the press release for this event put on by Seattleites Steven Seighman and Shya Scanlon, who run a literary website and publish a quarterly fiction journal. Tonight Aaron Burch, Kevin Sampsell, and more will read, while Scuffle and Dustcough play some ditties. Stumptown Downtown, 128 SW 3rd Ave, 7 pm, free
