November 2009

  • Creative expansion: Movies based on short stories

    There’s always another movie coming that’s based on a novel (raising the eternal question, should you read the book or see the movie first?). I’m currently waiting for the December 11 release of the movie The Lovely Bones, based on the novel by Alice Sebold. But it’s also interesting to think about the process of… Continue reading

  • Biography Resource Center: Having fun with a new database

    Every once in a while I decide to get to know a new(to me)  free database that we have at Seattle Public Library.  I’ve always managed to find some treasure, even in the ones that I wouldn’t have thought were related to my interests!  My most recent foray was into Biography Resource Center.  I decided… Continue reading

  • Thankful for Public Libraries

    This was a typical Monday night at the library in the insistent dark of November. I had spent much of the day weeding, which is library jargon for the bittersweet job of getting rid of books to make room for more, and was checking in with patrons as closing time drew near when a woman… Continue reading

  • A local book club shares!

    I am a librarian. Do I read 24 hours/7 days a week? No. Do I read during my spare time? Sometimes a lot, usually not too much. Four years ago, a friend invited me to join a ladies’ book group in Lake Forest Park. Some of these ladies read tons more than me! This past year,… Continue reading

  • Books for Giving 2009 – Children’s Chapter Books

    Books are a wonderful gift any time of year. When asked what you have held on to from your childhood, it is likely that a favorite book will be included on your list. Holidays are a perfect time to connect young readers with books that make a lasting impression. Parents, grandparents, and others often ask… Continue reading

  • Books on Basho and His Haiku at the Seattle Public Library

    Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was the most famous poet of Japan’s Edo period (1603-1868). His great contribution to Japanese poetry was that he elevated the haiku to a level of art after it had been part of Japanese culture for hundreds of years. His concepts, insights, and understanding of the art form of haiku influenced generations… Continue reading

  • ‘Tis (almost) the season for new books: Urban fantasies for 2010

    My favorite thing about the last part of any year is book anticipation.  Readers of urban fantasy know that the new year brings with it fresh installments in all our favorite series, and usually, these books arrive in stores (and libraries!) within the first  four months of the calendar year.  I have a very full… Continue reading

  • Life Stories: Biographies of Great Americans

    The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey by Candice Millard After a disastrous political defeat, the intrepid Roosevelt and his son undertake a treacherous Amazonian voyage, complete with cannibals.  Surmounting all obstacles, they survive to tell the tale. John Adams by David McCullough McCullough masterfully describes the complex life of one of the most… Continue reading

  • Get Lost (Part 6)

                                                    (Sixth in a series) I’ve been to Hollywood…                           I’ve been to redwood…                       I crossed the ocean for a heart  of  gold…   I’ve been in my mind,                   its such a fine line…   That keeps me searching                           for a heart of gold… Third stop Vallecito and Redding: 2 days, 2 nights The… Continue reading

  • Learning to Be Thankful

    Parents often come into the library looking for books that will help their children learn to share, make friends, use better manners, get involved in community service, etc. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, there are lots of opportunities to share values and demonstrate kindness through actions, giving children living examples of thoughtful behaviors that… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reads: Royce Buckingham

    Seattle writer Royce Buckingham is the author of Demonkeeper (“scary and laugh-out-loud funny” said a School Library Journal Review) and Goblins (“a riotously good adventure” said Kirkus Reviews) . We asked this imaginative writer of teen books what he’s been reading, but forgot to ask him where he got the t-shirt he’s sporting in the photo below.… Continue reading

  • City Council adds $860,000 to Library’s 2010 budget!

    On Nov. 12, 2009, the City Council Budget Committee unanimously voted to add $860,000 to The Seattle Public Library’s 2010 budget. The additional money means the Library will be able to provide seven-day-a-week service at 11 branches and the Central Library in 2010. Another 15 branches will operate five days a week for 35 hours.… Continue reading

  • Get Lost (Part 5)

                             (Fifth in a series) Now I don’t know what I’ll find…           Just want to get in the car and drive… Been living too long this way…                                                It’s getting me down…                I know what I need…                                    What I need…             California sun…      It’s calling me… Next stop Calistoga and Napa: 1 day, 1 night… Continue reading

  • Veteran’s Day: What it Means for Children Today

    Veteran’s Day has become a very tangible holiday. Not so long ago, most children did not have a close, personal connection to a veteran. Veterans of war were people who were older, grandparents or distant relatives who had served in wars that children could not remember or identify with. It was a fuzzy concept; a day off from school… Continue reading

  • Just my Luxe

    As a librarian who helps people find good books to read for a living, there is one thing that I know for sure: a reader’s mood or what’s going on in their lives does affect what they want and choose to read. Let me share a case in point: myself. I generally read “literary” fiction—old… Continue reading

  • Historic Documents: A title worth remembering

    Students, scholars, librarians, or anyone else seriously interested in world affairs or politics in search of primary documents on major topics need look no further than Historic Documents, which has been published yearly since 1972 by Congressional Quarterly Press. This valuable series housed in the reference collection in the History, Travel & Maps Department of… Continue reading

  • Get Lost, (Part 4)

    (Fourth in a series) Low ebb, high tide…                       The lowest ebb and highest tide…       I guess we took us for a ride… I guess it’s just a gesture…              At the end of the continent…                                       At the edge of the continent… Get Lost enters California: First stop Eureka and Fort Bragg:… Continue reading

  • Snuggle Up and Sleep Like a Bear

    Is fall weather starting to get to you? Are the kids feeling the effects of too many windy, rainy days? How about snuggling up in a blanket cave with your cubs and hibernating for an afternoon of reading, sleeping and bonding?  Here are a few books that will help to get you settled in and… Continue reading