MONDAY:
Nizam Ali — whose parents, Ben and Virginia Ali, opened Ben's Chili Bowl 50 years ago — and Tracey Gold Bennett will be at the Busboys and Poets in D.C. to discuss and sign copies of their new book, Ben's Chili Bowl: 50 Years of a Washington DC Landmark. 6:30 p.m.

TUESDAY:
Dexter Filkins, an award-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times, will be at Politics and Prose to talk about his latest book, The Forever War, which chronicles his work in Afghanistan and Iraq since 1998. 7 p.m.

Salvadoran-American author and artist Mario Bencastro will make an appearance at Busboys and Poets in D.C. to read from his young adult novel, A Promise to Keep. 6 p.m.

WEDNESDAY:
Survival expert Laurence Gonzales talks about his book, Everyday Survival: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things, at National Geographic's Grosvenor Auditorium. We're guessing "alcohol" and "impressing the ladies" are two of the major explanations. 7:30 p.m.

David Danelo, who spent three months traveling the United States/Mexico border, will be at the Dupont Circle Olsson's to share some of his stories, also found in his book, The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide. 7 p.m.

Washington lobbyist Joseph S. Miller talks about his memoir, The Wicked Wine of Democracy, at Politics and Prose. 7 p.m.

THURSDAY:
The New America Foundation will be hosting James Calhoun to discuss his new book, Hope Matters: The Untold Story of How Faith Works in America. Noon.

More stories from the U.S./Mexican border at the Dupont Circle Olsson's. This time, Stephanie Elizondo Griest will be talking about her book, Mexican Enough: My Life between the Borderlines. 7 p.m.

Illustrator Brian Lies will be at Politics and Prose to talk about his latest children's book — a tale of book-loving bats at the local library called Bats at the Library. Let's hope the bats don't watch the latest episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, in which he attends a bat barbecue in Samoa. Potentially traumatic. 10:30 a.m.

FRIDAY:
It's a day of cartoonists at Politics and Prose! American cartoonist and author Lynda Barry will make an appearance to discuss her latest collection of cartoon panels, What It Is. 7 p.m. Then Tom Tomorrow will talk about his new collection of This Modern World cartoons, The Future's So Bright I Can't Bear to Look. 9 p.m.