Living in A Booklover's Paradise: National Book Festival This Weekend!

 This year's poster was designed by
Rafael Lopez.

Living in our nation's capital can have many advantages, especially for those among the NCS community with an interest in international issues and politics.  However, D.C. also happens to be a paradise for booklovers!  Between our extensive public library system and the many amazing independent bookstores scattered throughout the District, rapid readers are very lucky.  This weekend's exciting events are prime examples of D.C.'s exciting literary scene. 

This Saturday and Sunday, September 22nd and 23rd, the Library of Congress will host its 12th annual National Book Festival down on the National Mall.  The festival takes over the the Mall between 9th and 14th Streets, filling the area with a variety of pavillons housing everything from author presentations and book signings to family reading activities and special exhibits about the Library of Congress or the literary traditions of all 50 states.  You can visit the Festival's website to find more information including a map of the pavillions and a schedule of all exciting author presentations and signings.  Over 100 authors, poets, and illustrators of books in all different genres will be at the event over the course of the weekend.  Highlights include John Green (The Fault in Our Stars), Lois Lowry (The Giver), Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver; The Scorpio Races), Jenny Han (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street), and many, many more!  To find out if your favorite author might be there, check out the Festival complete author list here.

The National Book Festival runs from 10am to 5:30pm on Saturday Sept. 22 and from noon to 5:30pm on Sunday Sept. 23 on the National Mall.  It is free and open to the public and the events will run as scheduled in rain or sunshine.   

Additionally, the fabulous independent bookstore Politics and Prose has several exciting author events this week.  Libba Bray (author of A Great & Terrible Beauty, Going Bovine, and Beauty Queens) is presenting and signing there on Wednesday Sept. 20 at 7pm to celebrate the publication of her history fantasy novel The Diviners.  Also, David Levithan (Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist; Every Day) and Jacqueline Woodson (Hush; If You Come Softly; Beneath A Meth Moon) will be stopping by the store at 6:30pm on Saturday Sept. 22 after their busy day at the Book Festival.  Check out their calendar to for details!

What's Happening in DC: Exciting New Exhibit at Museum of Natural History!

Trying to think of something interesting to do this weekend? Maybe you should check out the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's newest exhibit, Race: Are We So Different?.  This fascinating special exhibition was created by the American Anthropological Association and the Science Museum of Minnesota and is currently touring around the country.  It will be here in DC at the NMNH until January 8, 2012.  The RACE Project explores the idea of race from three different perspectives: history, science, and lived experience.  The project's website has a whole range of interesting videos, interactive activities, and information about race from these three perspectives.  The History section of the site has a huge, interactive timeline and the Human Variation portion has articles and videos about genetics, skin color, and many other scientific topics related to race.  The Lived Experience area of the site has a bunch of quizzes about the different ways race affects how people are perceived in cultures and societies. 

The NMNH is open everyday of the year except December 25 from 10am to 5:30pm.  The museum is located on the National Mall at the intersection of 10th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW.  You can see exactly where it is on the Mall here on a map the museum created.  The nearest Metro stop is Smithsonian Station on the Blue and Orange line.  While you're there, you might want to check out the preview of the new exhibit Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt ; the full exhibit opens in November.