Who doesn’t love national security and baseball?

It may be post-Independence Day, but the patriotism continues this week in area book stores. Heck, even a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is out our way for a chat! Gen. Richard B. Myers is stopping by the Baileys Crossroads Borders at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to talk about “Eyes on the Horizon,” his look at his whole career, what it was like being in the frontlines warring against terrorism and what he thinks is a good plan for national security in today’s times. Equally American is the national pastime, and Tim Knouse will be doling know-how at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Woodbridge Borders from his “Amazing Baseball Tips” book. (Hey, at least it’s not “Mediocre Baseball Tips.”) And Thursday offers a double feature of sorts at Politics and Prose downtown. Olivia Gentile will be signing copies of her new book “Life List,” the biography of famous bird lover Phoebe Snetsinger, at 7 p.m. Thursday, and she’s bringing her husband along with her: comedian Andy Borowitz, author of “Who Moved My Soap?”

Did you catch “Captain America: Reborn” at your comic shop last week? Get it now if you haven’t, especially if you like “Lost.” But this week is the time to start gearing up for “Blackest Night,” since the official prologue begins in “Green Lantern” No. 43. Black Hand has been a GL for years, and we start to discover his ties to all the upcoming hubbub as the first Black Lantern is unveiled — or unearthed, as the case may be. (And should we read into the fact that Black Hand is positioned around the grave of Bruce Wayne on the cover?) DC Comics tries something new with its “Wednesday Comics,” a weekly tabloid-size book that tells tales of your fave comics characters in the newspaper comic-strip segments. (Me, I kinda like consuming my comics in their normal state.) I’m going to have to get the 13th and last volume of “100 Bullets,” entitled “Wilt,” to complete my collection, the miniseries “North 40″ features the denizens of a small Midwestern town with all sorts of weird things creepin’ around, and “Dark X-Men: The Beginning” breaks down Emma Frost’s super team in a “Utopia” tie-in.

What’s your “great American novel”? Let me know in the comments section!

Tags: book signing, books, comics