November 2010

  • One giant leap for mankind

    What the country needs now is more heroes. Not the celebrities that the media fixates on, but the real deal. That’s what I thought after reading Rocket Men: the Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon by Craig Nelson. I picked it up after hearing about the winding down of NASA’s manned space… Continue reading

  • Who is like Flavia de Luce?

    After you find The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, what’s left but the plate? If you loved Alan Bradley’s child sleuth Flavia de Luce as much as I did, you can’t help feeling bereft at the end of this brilliantly funny “cozy” mystery in which she prevents a family catastrophe – the conviction… Continue reading

  • Newspapers, Personified

    “He’s a real newspaper man!” Those words probably bring to mind an inveterate reporter for some city’s daily paper, or perhaps an illustrious publishing magnate. But how about a man literally made out of newspapers? Strange as it may sound, there’s actually a long and varied history of people made out of newspapers in art,… Continue reading

  • It’s going to get a bit brighter around the city …

    Several places light up in downtown Seattle this Friday —  at 5 p.m., to be exact. There’s the 22nd Annual Tree Lighting Celebration at Westlake Center, the Space Needle Tree Lighting Celebration of a 35 foot tree with 1,200 lights, and the Macy’s Star Lighting Ceremony of its 161 foot high, 4,300-bulb decoration along with fireworks. You… Continue reading

  • Best Board Books: Boynton for Babies

    When I am choosing board books, whether for an individual baby or to bring to an infant classroom on the bookmobile, there is one author who clearly rises above the rest.  The carefully crafted goofy gems — from 1977’s Hippos Go Berserk! to 2010’s Perfect Piggies! —  by Sandra Boynton have elicited giggles, snorts and Chattanooga… Continue reading

  • Grownup Thanksgiving

    Need something to get you in the mood for THE HOLIDAYS? Try staging an informal reading to celebrate Thanksgiving. From old-fashioned and heartwarming to cry-in-your-beer hilarious, there’s a story for every audience. In The Thanksgiving Visitor by Truman Capote, seven-year-old Buddy has a problem with a school bully named Odd Henderson, so his cousin- a… Continue reading

  • Don’t flush this holiday away!

    Most holidays are for certain subsets of people, based on religion, the country you live in or your personal interests. There is, however, one holiday that is for everyone: World Toilet Day.  I first became aware of World Toilet Day through author Dave Barry, who shares my penchant for potty humor. I thought the concept was both… Continue reading

  • Brain Candy: MaryJanice Davidson’s Undead and Unfinished

    Admit it, you (munch, munch) love that candy. Well, do you have a sweet tooth for brain candy? Recently I read MaryJanice Davidson’s latest in the Betsy the Vampire Queen aka the “Undead” series, Undead and Unfinished. I went through the novel faster than a package of Fizzy Cola gummies…and it left me with a mild… Continue reading

  • It’s the End of the World As We Know It

    The leaves are falling, the bubble has been popped for awhile now, and the holidays are right around the corner, which means it’s the best time to read dystopian fiction! Knowing these characters have it worse of then we do definitely puts a spring back in my step. In Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde… Continue reading

  • Kim Dong Hwa’s Beautiful Color Trilogy

    “My beloved has arrived, but rather than greeting him,  All I can do is bite the corner of my apron with a blank expression… My heart has longed for him as hugely and openly as a full moon  But instead I narrow my eyes, and my glance to him  Is sharp and narrow as the… Continue reading

  • I’m Just Browsing. Thank You!

    In the past several months, I had the opportunity to browse through our entire nonfiction collection at the Northgate Branch. I was helping our librarians by checking the condition of  each book. That means I had to inspect every single one to make sure they’re in good condition to circulate. Sound pretty boring? Not at all!… Continue reading

  • Tell them what you think!

    People so often disagree with what is going on with Congress, their state legislature, their city council and you have the option of voting them out of office…but how often do you actually tell them what you think? Well first, of course, you have to contact them…but how to find that information? How do I email… Continue reading

  • This isn’t your Grandma’s Story Hour! Part 2

    In Part I of this series, we explained that story times for children are based on the six early literacy skills, building blocks that kids need to make learning to read and write much easier. We also wrote about the social and physical developmental reasons to attend story time. Continue reading

  • This isn’t your Grandma’s story hour! Part I

    When was the last time you attended a story time at your local library? When your children were small? When you were a child? Never? We thought we might take this opportunity to fill everyone in on what story time is these days; how it is much more than just reading stories. Continue reading

  • In the South Park Stacks: Short & Sweet

    The South Park Branch features staff and patron recommendations throughout the library, as displayed on plastic-encased shelf talkers. Here are a few to check out: Petite Sweets by Beatrice Ojakangas If you prefer your desserts to be “just a bite” Continue reading

  • Life is more awesome when you use your new Bibliocommons account

    How many times has this happened to you? It’s morning. You’re sitting at the table by the window, dressed in your bathrobe, drinking coffee and eating buttered toast. You’re reading the newspaper. The article mentions a band or a book or a movie. You pull up the library’s catalog, find the thing and try to… Continue reading

  • How to plan a wedding without losing your mind

    Sorry. Not possible. Next post. No, I’m kidding; you won’t lose your mind. Just everyone else’s who has to listen to you for the next several months. To mitigate that damage, here’s a few recommendations from someone who just wanted to elope but now finds herself planning not one but TWO ceremonies (one local, one… Continue reading

  • Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work

    Edwidge Danticat, famous Haitian-American author, sees the stress of crisis as a force for artistic creation, and sees the role of the immigrant artist in the documentation of events. Speaking recently at Town Hall in support of her new book, Create Dangerously: The Immigrant Artist at Work, Danticat explored the theme of being an artist… Continue reading