July 2008

  • Celebrate Seattle’s Farmers Markets!

    Seattle has long been famous for the Pike Place Market, which will be 101 years old this August. The Seattle Public Library has some fantastic books to help the average shopper explore both the Pike Place and neighborhood farmers markets, such as The Farm to Table Cookbook: The Art of Eating Locally by Ivy Manning… Continue reading

  • Read & Listen: White Bicycles

    The first in an occasional series in which we pair reviews of music criticism/history books with a list of accompanying albums for your reading and listening pleasure. READ: Walking off the baseball field of his Connecticut prep school one evening in the late 1950s, Joe Boyd heard the strains of the most recent Fats Domino… Continue reading

  • Public Health

    There probably aren’t many people who could say they “like” diseases, but they are interesting subjects for researchers and writers.  Especially interesting are accounts of how society copes with illness, now and in the past – and in what ways particular diseases were perceived by the society struggling with them.  Here are a few investigations… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Three novels to take to the beach

    Looking for a good novel to take along on your vacation—or read in your backyard? The Summer edition of Staff Favorites for Adults is hot off the press and available at your branch. The bright green booklet highlights 27 books, fiction and nonfiction, recommended by Library staff. The three novels suggested here are also available… Continue reading

  • Baseball with the Seattle Pilots

    This challenging season for local baseball fans brings to mind another last place team in our fair city, the famous and short-lived Seattle Pilots of 1969. An expansion team in the American League, they played at Sicks’ Stadium, a converted minor league ballpark. In their one year here they launched Jim Bouton’s literary career through… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Fremont and Queen Anne reader suggestions

    Want to share what you’re reading? Enter the Adult Summer Reading Program at any branch (or downtown at the Central Library), write one or two sentences about three books you’ve read. You’ll be entered in a weekly drawing to win a book bag (one winner per week at each location; lots of chances to win!).… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Wallingford and Ballard readers offer suggestions

    How do you find what to read next? Most of us count on personal recommendations from friends and neighbors (and, of course, librarians!). As part of the Adult Summer Reading Program, readers throughout Seattle are writing super short “reviews” of what they’ve been reading. Readers in Wallingford recommend: The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters A Brother… Continue reading

  • Knitting

    In 1917, the West Seattle Branch of the Seattle Public Library had a Knitting Club, to help in the War effort. Girls would meet once per week, and while one of their members read out loud, they would knit socks and ambulance pillows out of sturdy wool. A Red Cross volunteer handed out the yarn,… Continue reading

  • After a bike ride, read a book about bicycles

    Bicycles are magical.  Learning to ride one is a rite of passage. The bicycle wobbles between the thighs – yet stays upright. Suddenly, the world extends from the yard to the block, from the neighborhood to the city, and beyond. This skill, once mastered, becomes intimately connected to memory, to knowledge.  It’s like riding a… Continue reading