It’s time to party like it’s 1959

Instead of writing about 1958 or 1960, Fred Kaplan has picked to write about the many culture-defining events of the the year in-between in “1959: The Year Everything Changed.” In it, he argues that ’59 was the year that kicked off the Sixties and a period of sociological, cultural and political changes. A lot of interesting people make appearances, from Malcolm X and Miles Davis to John F. Kennedy and Lenny Bruce, in this intriguing tome, which Kaplan will be presenting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Politics and Prose downtown.

The store also hosts another couple of events for those interested in world history: Seth Jones will be speaking at 7 p.m. Wednesday on his book about the many world powers that have tasted defeat by invading Afghanistan, “In the Graveyard of Empires,” and Matthew Aid stops by at 7 p.m. Thursday to chat about his chronicling of the National Security Agency, “The Secret Sentry.”

A little bit closer to home, popular chick-lit author Jennifer Weiner will be in town at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Baileys Crossroads Borders and signing copies of her new book, “Best Friends Forever,” a female-friendly story about two childhood pals reconnecting after years apart thanks to unforeseen circumstances.

Many movie and book fans have been awaiting this day for a while, and on Tuesday at midnight, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” finally hits theaters. It was supposed to get released last November, but was pushed to this summer, much to fans’ chagrin.

The sixth book was by far my favorite of the J.K. Rowling series, as it delved deeper into Voldemort’s past and showed how Dumbledore was involved, introduced the all-important seven horcruxes, and allowed Harry and his pals to grow up a little bit more. If the new movie’s even half as good as the book, it’ll probably the best one yet. Director David Yates is back in the saddle, too, which bodes well for the movie franchise after doing a spot-on job with “Order of the Phoenix.” (Of course, I don’t think anyone’s going to come close to what Alphonso Cuaran did with the third film, “Prisoner of Azkaban.”)

So what’s your fave Potter book and movie, and do they match? Let me know in the comments.

Tags: book signing, books, geek, movies