March 2008

  • Northwest author Jo Dereske creates a ‘loving sendup’ to librarians in Miss Zukas mysteries

    Turns out my favorite librarian in the universe will be making an appearance at our very own Green Lake Library this week. Okay, make that my favorite fictional librarian, created by Northwest author Jo Dereske, who will be reading from her popular Miss Zukas mystery series and discussing writing mysteries (she has a new series… Continue reading

  • Tapping your feet at the Ballet

    Ballet is a feast for the eyes. But don’t forget your ears. DIRECTOR’S CHOICE, the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s March 2008 program, includes some material from new choreographers and some unusual composers. Musical selections by Mikel Rouse, Arvo Paart, Phlip Glass and Thom Willems will be previewed in the Microsoft Auditorium of the Seattle Public Library’s… Continue reading

  • The War in Fiction, part 2: The Home Front

    A War is not one story, but many. Here is the second of three lists of fiction that views the war through many eyes, reflecting the diverse experiences of civilians and soldiers around the world whose lives were drawn into the Second World War. A Place on Earth, by Wendell Berry. As the war draws… Continue reading

  • Books About Autism

    Why are there so many good books about autism? Sadly, maybe it’s because there are so many families dealing with this very difficult diagnosis. I love to read “my problem and how I solved it books” (think Ladies Home Journal’s long-running “Can This Marriage Be Saved?” series). Unfortunately many of the family members with autism… Continue reading

  • Blurring Boundaries: translating the digital to the book

    With all the press lately about Kindle, the latest wireless reading device to take a stab at capturing the book reading market, it is interesting to see books traveling the other way, out of the ether and on to the printed page. The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life by John Maeda an internationally… Continue reading

  • Thinking about people with disabilities

    March is Disability Awareness month. This is a great time to remember the achievements of people with disabilities — folks who live in a world designed to accommodate people whose bodies, minds or senses work a little differently from their own. I recently discovered two really interesting memoirs on this subject. Both demonstrate that disabilities… Continue reading

  • Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore

    Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore. When Jody becomes a vampire, she realizes that even though being young and beautiful forever is kind of cool, there are a few serious draw backs — like blood thirst, dropping dead at dawn, and the problem of finding suitable employment. So what’s a girl to do when she can’t… Continue reading

  • Spun to distraction – surviving life between the primaries and the general election

    This is probably the most exciting election year I’ve ever seen. It’s exhilarating and exhausting. Just keeping track of the code words and the spin cycles, not to mention the charges and counter-charges is enough to give even a committed political junky a headache. Enter unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation. Written by… Continue reading

  • Gaiman gives it away!

    And we like it. To celebrate the seventh birthday of his blog, the wildly inventive Neil Gaiman asked his fans to vote on which of his titles they’d like a free electronic copy of. Now that the voting is over, American Gods is available for online readers at the Harpercollins site for the month of… Continue reading