June 2010

  • Well That’s Different

    If you’re in the mood for something a little off-beat, try one of these dillies. The Toothpick by Henry Petroski. More from the guy that brought you The Pencil. What began as a twig has become a tiny work of art. Find out how toothpicks are made (in great secrecy), possible interlopers on the trade… Continue reading

  • About Time: Discovering America

    1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann Recent research upends our previously held notions, showing that the pre-Columbian Americas were more densely populated and the Native cultures and governments more sophisticated than we had once imagined. Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War by Nathaniel Philbrick A fresh look at… Continue reading

  • June Question of the Month – an irregular series

    The reference librarians at Seattle Public Library are pretty darn amazing. They don’t know everything, instead they know where to find everything. As part of an irregular series of posts we salute the talented and dedicated reference staff at your local library. Names and other identifying information have been removed from the questions we showcase.… Continue reading

  • Library Imitating Art

    As a teenager in the ‘90s, ‘grunge’ was the word. So I was particularly excited to learn about the Seattle Art Museum’s current exhibition, “Kurt,” which features works of art inspired by Kurt Cobain and the Seattle Grunge music movement. But before I throw on my oversized flannel shirt over my baggy jeans and head to the… Continue reading

  • Are You Ready For Summer?

    Summer is here and for some of us that means staying at home, relaxing, and having fun in the sun. But for others, it means taking cross country road trips or taking vacations to exotic locales. And for some, it means finding that special someone for a summer romance. For ideas about “staycations” or taking… Continue reading

  • Children’s novels: Summer adventures away from home

    Have you noticed that there’s something extra appealing when you get the parents out of the way in a children’s novel? I certainly don’t intend for that to sound disprespectful or malicious, but I find stories especially satisfying when the child is out on his or her own, often in unfamiliar situations. Summer settings are ideal for… Continue reading

  • Yelling librarians confront book worms

    In Blake Charlton’s Spellwright, if you can’t spell right, you can’t become a spellwright at the wizard school in Starhaven, where Nicodemus Weal lives. He has a unique disability: every spell he touches goes wrong, partly because he can’t spell the words written in his body, and partly because a piece of his soul lies… Continue reading

  • The Library is going green

    Are you among the 24,000 Library patrons who receive a paper notice in the mail when your book or DVD is ready to be picked up? If so, please sign up for e-mail. The Library will stop mailing paper notices beginning July 1 to save $60,000 a year and conserve paper. Need help changing to… Continue reading

  • Cooking with Gas

    These are not your everyday cookbooks. When you’re tired of the same old thing for dinner, try one of these unconventional possibilities. Kafka’s Soup: a complete history of world literature in 14 recipes by Mark Crick. This guy is smart!  Food + fiction = satisfaction. Raymond Chandler cooks lamb with dill sauce; “before I knew… Continue reading

  • What I Made: The Do-It-Yourself Bride

    Seattle is home to a thriving DIY ethic and culture.  As part of an occasional series of posts, we feature hand-made items created by staff at The Seattle Public Library and the library books, CDs, and DVDs that showed them how to do it themselves. We hope you’ll draw inspiration from their creations and check… Continue reading

  • Celebrate Pride with Two Seattle Films

    June is GLBTQ Pride month. Seattle Pride Fest is coming up on June 27th. The Seattle Public Library’s own Bookineers will be marching once again, so look for us there. Looking for other ways to celebrate Pride? Here are two films with ties to Seattle. Alice Wu designed software for Microsoft before she became a director.… Continue reading

  • Father’s Day Reads: Picture Books to Share

    Are you looking for the perfect Father’s Day present? Give the gift of a daddy-daughter/son moment by presenting the father in your household with a book that he can share with his favorite child. Here are a few new titles that will make for a memorable Daddy-and-me story time, celebrating the special relationship fathers have… Continue reading

  • Weird Titles Sell Books

    Why do authors and publishers get “clever” with titles? Is it just to sell books, or also to make a point? Let’s take a few examples and see. Let’s start with Amy Bloom’s A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You. This memorable collection of short stories features characters beset by physical frailties… Continue reading

  • The User Experience in the 21st Century Library

    What kind of customer service do you expect from the Library? Do we meet your expectations as a:   Community gathering space? Provider of online and print information? Resource for help from well-trained staff? Join us at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 12 at the Central Library for a lively panel discussion on best practices in customer… Continue reading

  • Less Is More

    Who likes short shorts?  How short can a story be and still be a story?  The term flash fiction (aka microfiction, sudden fiction, postcard fiction, prosetry, short short story) originated in the early 1990s, but has roots going back as far as Aesop and his fables.  Some flash fiction has an exact word count –… Continue reading

  • The Aftermath of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

    Arguably the definitive book on the most momentous expedition in American history is Stephen E Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage ; Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, which focuses on the expedition and Lewis’s suicide. After a triumphant return as a national hero, Lewis’s life was cut tragically cut short after he… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads for Tweens

    Are your kids counting down the days until school gets out, looking forward to a long summer stretch without homework? Put them in a summer mood and keep them reading into fall with these new titles: Crunch by Leslie Connor Dewey is feeling the crunch! When his parents get stranded miles away from home, it… Continue reading

  • What’s your summer reading goal?

    At The Seattle Public Library, our goal is for the good people of Seattle to read 148,000 books this summer. That’s right: 148,000 books. And we’re pretty sure we can reach that goal — with your help, of course. It’s an all-ages kind of reading celebration this summer: Kids, teens and adults can sign up for… Continue reading