Monday, October 7th: Booktoberfest Book Nerd Party

October is the Seattle Public Library's busiest month of the year — it's the month where librarians take to the streets to celebrate reading and literature and fellowship with trivia, karaoke, and other special events. It's called Booktoberfest, and it really kicks into gear tonight, with "a fun evening of bookish games and activities, prizes, free books and snacks, buttons, bookish tarot, and great beer!" Come meet your librarians, who are incredibly fun people Flying Bike Cooperative Brewery, 8570 Greenwood Ave N, http://www.flyingbike.coop, 6 pm, free.

Tuesday, October 8th: Democracy in Decline

Conflict of interest alert: This is an event that I helped to put together at my day job at Civic Ventures. If that conflict bugs you, please feel free to move on to the next event, which is an alternate Tuesday selection. But I do think that this panel about the end of local media and what it means for all of us is something that people who read this site would find to be interesting. It's moderated by my coworker, David "Goldy" Goldstein, and the panel includes my old coworker Erica C Barnett of C Is for Crank fame, South Seattle Emerald founder Marcus Harrison Green, and Matt Gertz of Media Matters, who's bringing his national expertise to Seattle.

Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave., 652-4255, http://townhallseattle.org, 7:30 pm, $5.

Alternate Tuesday, October 8th: Witness Tree Reading

Seattle Times journalist Lynda Mapes reads from her excellent new book, which looks at centuries of nature and decades of climate change through the life and times of a single tree. I loved this book, and you this is a great opportunity to hear the author discuss it and determine whether or not it will work for you. University Book Store,  4326 University Way N.E., 634-3400, http://www2.bookstore.washington.edu/, 6 pm, free.

Wednesday, October 9th: Lit Crawl Launch Party

It's almost time again for Lit Crawl, which sends book-lovers all across Capitol Hill (and a little bit of First Hill) in search of reading adventures. This event serves as an unveiling of the Lit Crawl lineup and it's also a fundraiser for the festival, which costs a lot of goddamn money to run. Readers include Richard Chiem, Tara Hardy, and Ching-In Chen. There's also an open mic and booze and other events. Cost is $5, and tickets can be bought here. Capitol Cider, 818 E Pike St,397-3564, 6 pm, free.

Thursday, October 10th: Dear Books to Prisoners: Letters from the Incarcerated Reading

See our Event of the Week column for more details. Third Place Books Ravenna, 6504 20th Ave NE, 525-2347 http://thirdplacebooks.com, 7 pm, free.

Friday, October 11th: And How Are You Dr Sacks? Reading

Lawrence Weschler is one of the best non-fiction writers in the country. Whatever he puts his big brain to — from a bizarre museum owned and operated by a true eccentric to the light in Los Angeles — is guaranteed to fascinate and amaze you. His newest book is all about the late Oliver Sacks — himself a great writer about the human brain. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600, http://elliottbaybook.com, 7 pm, free.

Saturday, October 12th: Washington State Book Awards

Okay, I'm hosting this one, but you can't really consider this to be a conflict of interest: have you seen the list of nominees for the Washington State Book Awards this year? It's amazing. Like, I haven't seen a better collection of books nominated for these awards in, I think, ever. Tonight, the authors will get together to celebrate the winners and honor each other. Don't let the fact that I'm hosting the ceremony keep you away, because this is going to be a special night. Seattle Public Library, 1000 4th Ave., 386-4636, http://spl.org, 7 pm, free.

Sunday, October 13th: Seattle Writes: Writing Outside the Map

Seattle poet Laura Da’ hosts a generative writing course that focuses on "the conceit of the map as a central metaphor for crafting new work and evoking place." Geography and personality and place and time are all connected, and Da' will teach you how to make these juxtapositions to create new work.

• Broadview, 12755 Greenwood Ave N,684-7519, 2 pm, free.*