August 2008

  • Scooters scream into mainstream

    There’s a meteoric rise in scooter use since gasoline jumped the $4 mark.  I’ve been scooter commuting since 2002 and I’ve got a lot more company these days. Scooter registration is up 33% over the period June 2007 to June 2008 in King County. Fuel costs for your car range between $1200 -$4200 per year. (That’s the difference between a 1984… Continue reading

  • Central District and High Point reader suggestions

    Readers from the Douglass-Truth Branch and the High Point Branch offer some of their favorite books from this summer. Here are suggestions for some late-summer memoirs, a medical thriller set in Seattle, poetry and novels. Readers in Douglass-Truth’s Adult Summer Reading Program suggest: Shame on It All by Zane A captivating story of three sisters showing the true meaning of… Continue reading

  • What Is a Mix Tape?

    “When I first saw you, I saw love.” “All you need is love.” “Love is a battlefield.” “I’m not going to write you a love song.” “I’m all out of love.” From famed music critic and contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine, Rob Sheffield’s book Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song… Continue reading

  • A book leads to redemption: Bringing honor to Fort Lawton soldiers from World War II

    The tale begins in WWII era Seattle. Our city was host to 200 Italian prisoners of war and a number of African-American servicemen in transit, at Fort Lawton on Magnolia Bluff. The Italians were treated more hospitably than the African-Americans — and tension rose. In one dramatic night of violence, one of the POWs was… Continue reading

  • Scaring me in 2008

    This year proves fertile ground for new kinds of horror — scary books that go beyond the splash-gore of Clive Barker or the pokey-fanged love of Tanya Huff and L.A. Banks. Even Stephen King is up to something new. Frankly, simply by his status as one of the most prolific horror writer in America, I… Continue reading

  • Book review: Dog Days by John Levitt

    After Mason is attacked by a giant magical spider, he realizes things around San Francisco are even weirder than normal. Since he used to be a supernatural enforcer, his threshold for “weird” is a little higher than the average jazz musician’s. In an effort to get to the bottom of what’s going wrong in his… Continue reading

  • Genealogy Classes coming up at SPL

    ARE YOU INTERESTED IN RESEARCHING YOUR FAMILY’S HISTORY? The Genealogy Staff of The Seattle Public Library are presenting classes and tours this fall designed to assist you with getting started on your family history project. The following genealogy classes, plus tours of the Genealogy Section have been scheduled. BEGINNING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH Are you… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Beacon Hill and Rainier Beach reader suggestions.

    Beach Reads? Rainy Day Reads? Its anyone’s guess! Welcome to August in Seattle! Beacon Hill and Rainier Beach participants in our popular Adult Summer Reading Program tell us a bit about what good reads they’ve found at the end of the rainbow. Beacon Hill readers suggest: The Devil’s Whisper, by Miyuki Miyabe Layers of mystery: a missing… Continue reading

  • Da Vinci’s Inquest: The Best Hour on TV?

    So, I love Vancouver. I love escaping up there for the weekend in the Summer or going to penguin shuffle the half-marathon each Spring, and lately I’ve been telling everyone who will listen that I just love the Vancouver-based cop show, Da Vinci’s Inquest. After watching I don’t know how many thousand hours of the ubiquitous yet duly… Continue reading

  • Fantastic librarians, or librarian fantasies?

    In a recent post, I enthused about a few of my favorite fictional librarians, and invited others to share their favorites. The suggestions that followed were many and varied, ranging from Public Librarian Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, to Henry DeTamble from Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, to Garth Nix’s Lirael, who is given a job… Continue reading

  • New Database: Value Line Research Center Online

    The Seattle Public Library is now offering the Value Line Research Center Online!  It is available on all library computers and remotely through our website.  The database features the online version of the popular Value Line Investment Survey that analyzes approximately 1,700 stocks in 98 industries, the stock market, and the economy.  In addition, our subscription includes access to the 1,800… Continue reading

  • Americans in Paris

    Oscar Wilde said that good Americans go to Paris when they die, but for many the ville lumière was a regular destination in life, and for some, the one place where they felt free to live realized, adult lives.  Herewith, a few titles by and about notable American lovers of Paris: Paris was Yesterday by… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reading: Matt Ruff reads the gamut, from War to Pie.

    Editor’s Note: Matt Ruff will be reading from his 2008 PNBA Book Award-winning book Bad Monkeys, freshly released in paperback, at the Ballard Branch Library this Thursday, August 21at 6:30 p.m, in conjunction with Secret Garden Books.  (Matt will also be reading at Queen Anne books on Tuesday, and coming up in October he will be reading from a new work at the Richard Hugo House). If… Continue reading

  • Finding that elusive poem – Part Two

    In the first part of this tutorial, we asked the question “How do you find a poem, when you know only the title or first line?” The reference tool we used was the Columbia Granger’s Index to Poetry.  Now let’s ask the same question using one of the Seattle Public Library’s popular subscription databases.  After the video,… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Ballard, Broadview, Mobile and University reader suggestions

    Looking for a book for these last few weeks of summer? Here are 12 suggestions from Library users from Mobile Services and the Ballard, Broadview and University branches: Mobile Services’ readers suggest: Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton He tells all of us how we can really help save the world by… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reading: Artist Margaret Chodos-Irvine dives into teen lit this summer

    Editor’s note: We love Margaret Chodos-Irvine’s vivid mixed-media prints and innovative linocuts, which can be found in award-winning children’s books such as the charming Ella Sarah Gets Dressed (a 2004 Caldecott Honor Book) and Buzz (where her collages seem to move across the pages), and in the posters, brochures and book bags that celebrate reading… Continue reading

  • 2008: Year of the Frog

    Did you know that 2008 is the Year of the Frog?  The year has been deemed so by Amphibian Ark, a worldwide collaborative program of environmental agencies.  It’s about time frogs got their spotlight and respect!  I must confess to a lifelong fondness for frogs, so I am delighted to share my appreciation of these… Continue reading

  • Book Review: Real Food (and more)

     Now I know that my mom really meant well on our family’s liver dinner night after reading Nina Planck’s guide to why she eats lard, raw milk, and organ meats in Real Food: what to eat and why. An intelligent gathering of research on good eating, this book emphasizes traditional foods: whole foods, animal fats,… Continue reading