Christine N. Ziemba

There are a number of great readings happening around town tonight that probably cap of a book lovers' weekend at the Festival of Books. Authors on tap tonight are David Rees, Paul Cummins are Lauren Groff. Queer Mondays holds its Eastside edition tonight at Akbar, and a new theater troupe celebrates Shakespeare's birthday with a wine fundraiser.

TGIF! We found a few great events happening around town tonight. Check out: an evening of Silent Comedy Shorts at the Aero Theater; an evening of Dirty Songs; Seun Kuti in concert; Anna Deveare Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; and Literary Death Match in ATX.

Here are our picks for things to do in LA tonight: Lucha VaVOOM's side project The Heino! Happy Hour and burlesque show is at El Cid; The Bloggess is the guest of honor at Writer's Bloc; T.M. Wolf reads from his novel, Sound; Mindshare LA presents an evening of discussion on "play"; and NerdMelt offers a sneak peek of a Victorian Ghost Story puppet film. Read on for all the details.

Tuesday night is hopping in LA. We're particularly excited about Thomas Dolby's Time Capsule Tour making a stop at Largo; Seth Grahame-Smith, the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire author reads and signs his latest book Unholy Night; projections poolside at the Standard, Hollywood; poetry with the Tuesday Night Project in Little Tokyo; and more. Read on for all the details.

Not headed east to Mud-chella Coachella this weekend? Not to worry because there's so much happening this weekend right here at home. Here are our top seven Coachella alternatives, in no particular order. This is definitely one weekend where you can't say there's nothing to do in LA. As a bonus, most of these picks are definitely cheaper than that desert music fest:

We found a number of art openings tonight, including at Gallery1988 in Venice, playing tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. The Santa Monica Museum of Art holds openings for three new exhibitions; and the New Puppy Gallery features the work of Derek Cowan. Steve Abee reads at Skylight Books; and the TCM Film Festival continues. Read on for all the details.

We found a number of interesting events around town tonight, including a photo pop-up gallery with the LA Times photogs; a Beerlesque party at Skinny's Lounge; poetry at ALOUD and gigs by Joseph Arthur and James. Read on for all the details.

Here's what we found going on around town for a Tuesday night in LA: Bartering art at Barney; Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles kickoff; Ashley Judd and the 'Missing' team at the Paley Center; Moth storytellers take on music and more. Read on for all the details.

Musician-songwriter-author Mike Doughty, grew up in a dysfunctional military family in West Point, NY. In his early 20s, he joined another “family” with plenty of their own issues: the now-defunct slacker-jazz outfit, Soul Coughing. His time with the band found him with a big cult following and critical success—along with a nasty heroin and alcohol habit.

Tonight in LA, Deschutes Brewery starts its week of popup events, readings from 'Grantland Quarterly' a McSweeney's sports journal, at Skylight Books; an 826LA charity auction; and Elle King headlines It's a School Night. Read on for all the details.

We finally discovered what happens to the socks we lose in the laundry: They run off to do live theater. On Wednesday night at Atwater Village Crossing (ATX) Performance Lounge, the Sock Puppet Sitcom Theater troupe, led by puppet producers Glamour Puss and Frenchie and assisted by human producer Mark Hayward, open a new live theater series sure to appeal to boob tube watchers of all ages.

Here's what's happening in LA on this Good Friday/first night of Passover. It's a little quieter than usual tonight, but we found a few art and music events that might interest you. Gallery1988 (Melrose) opens a Mike Mitchell show; the Leftover Cuties and Kitty, Daisy & Lewis at the El Rey; two shows open at La Luz de Jesus; and Chilly Gonzales is at the Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Read on for all the details.