MONDAY Ada’s Technical Books kicks off our week in events with NASA scientist Les Johnson, who will be discussing his book Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth...And Beyond! Press materials promise that Johnson will discuss “how we can use space resources to help solve energy and environmental problems on Earth while simultaneously putting in place the infrastructure to allow sustained exploration of Mars.” Now that you've seen The Martian and you're all stressed about what would happen if you get trapped on Mars by yourself, you should probably start preparing for just that eventuality.

TUESDAY The October Literary Mixer is happening at the Hideout. Here’s the simple premise: bring a book. Buy a drink. Talk to someone about the book they brought. Prepare to talk about the book you brought. That’s it! Book chat and booze is just about the best way to spend a fall evening.

WEDNESDAY A lively week of Short Run Comix & Arts Festival programming kicks off at the Capitol Hill Branch of Seattle Public Library, in the form of an artist talk by East Coast cartoonists Charles Forsman and Melissa Mendes. Short Run organizers say that Mendes and Forsman will discuss “their work and influences, self-publishing, pushing through mental troubles, printing comics on the cheap, and organizing the Oily Comics publishing company and subscription service.”

(And this kind of flies in the face of this column’s mandate to choose one event for every day of the week, but Tavi Gevinson is reading at University Book Store tonight, too. If you know any teenage girls, you should definitely bring them to this event and watch the world open up for them.)

THURSDAY Before you ask: Seattle Arts & Lectures’s Ta-Nehisi Coates reading has long since sold out. If you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you’re out of luck. It’s a shame, too, because he’s written a great book that will undoubtedly be seen as a classic in the years ahead.

Instead, visit the central branch of Seattle Public Library to join a community discussion about gun violence. This is so important. It feels as though we’ve recently turned a corner on gun violence in America; average Americans are fed up at the sickening regularity of mass shootings, and it’s time to take action. We can only do that by talking, and taking stock, and coming together as a community.

SATURDAY The Short Run Comix & Art Festival finally arrives, from 11 to 6 at Fisher Pavillion. Wander around, check out the tables full of books by small-press publishers, cartoonists, and artists. Meet new people, find a new artist to fall in love with, and visit with some old friends.

SUNDAY Hugo House welcomes publisher great weather for MEDIA. They’ll be presenting Before Passing, an anthology of new poetry and short fiction from Toni La Ree Bennett, Wil Gibson, Thomas Hanchett, David Lawton, Richard Loranger, Mary Mackey, Jane Ormerod, and Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. Close out your week by welcoming some new writers to the stage.