Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe has scheduled a solid lineup of talent from Wednesday through Saturday. Hurricane Howie’s New Orleans-style piano kicks off the fun Wednesday at 8 PM.

Politics and Prose hosts Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Wednesday at 7 PM. The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel follows a group of Dominican immigrants who decide to settle in New Jersey.

Curtis Sittenfeld, author of the best-selling Prep and The Man of My Dreams, takes her obsessive study of privileged white people to the ultimate setting—the White House. American Wife follows Alice Blackwell (apparently based on Laura Bush), a librarian, Democrat, and eventual wife of a Republican President. Hear Sittenfeld talk about the novel Friday at 7 at Politics and Prose. Check back next Thursday for our interview with the author.
    

On Friday at 10 AM, the National Museum of the American Indian staff will release ladybugs into the museum, an agricultural technique that helps control pests in an environmentally friendly way.

The National Gallery of Art’s weekly concert series continues this Friday with the blues band Bruce Ewan and the Solid Blenders at 5 PM, followed by the swing-infused US Navy Commodores.

On Saturday at 3, the National Gallery of Art will screen The Last Conquistador in the East Building auditorium. The film follows artist John Sherrill Houser in his effort to create a sculpture based on the Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate. Filmmaker John Valadez will discuss his work and answer questions.

The Hump Day Groovez artist at Busboys and Poets this week is Ahmad Nadimi, who blends orchestral and world music. The venue will also host a 9/11 Truth Film Festival at 6 on Thursday.

William Stolzenburg will sign copies of Where The Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage at the National Museum of Natural History from 2 to 4.

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