The holiday shopping season is officially in full swing, so the literary reading cup runneth over and ruineth your coffee table with big names. Message from Big Literature: Books make great gifts! Message from DCist: Free readings help keep your entertainment budget low, which is helpful since you already have to spend your entire bonus on gifts for other people. MONDAY: Joan Collins is 73 years-old and still fabulous. We’re not sure how she does…

Yes, our Nikon pretty much sucks, but we think some of our photos of the D.C. fireworks worked out quite well. Here you can see three major blurred symbols of American democracy — the Capitol, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial — framing a spectacular fire burst above West Potomac Park. We encourage you do drop in your photos of the fireworks in DCist Photos. Here’s our quick roundup of the July Fourth…