February 2011

  • Pie v. Cake

    Cake and cupcakes are still going strong in the Seattle area. Metropolitan Market has a huge mountain of little boxes with specialty cupcakes in them, and I saw a pink cupcake maker at Fred Meyer. When asked, the baker at Met Market said cake sells better than pie. Some of pie lovers admitted liking cake more often… Continue reading

  • Too good to miss: Josephine Tey

    I recently discovered classic mystery author Josephine Tey. A patron and a colleague had told me about her years ago, and I filed the name away until Nancy Pearl mentioned Tey as well. And like many other readers in Seattle, when Nancy Pearl says something is good, you move that book or author to the front… Continue reading

  • 1-5 Overpass Songs

    Like most city commuters, I like to mix it up when it comes to how I get to and from work. I’ve recently moved, so now it’s full on bus both ways. But before I moved, I would usually walk to work and bus home or vice versa. I tried to vary my route so… Continue reading

  • Seattle Picks: Book Group Best Bets

    Is your book group in need of some new books to discuss? Try these new titles that are already becoming book group darlings! Bloodroot by Amy Greene  In lovely, lyrical Appalachian cadence, family members take turns narrating the life of a willful, heartbreaking and bewitching woman, Myra, from the Great Depression to the present time. Continue reading

  • A presidential playlist

    by Linda J. I celebrate Presidents’ Day with gusto ever since I heard Dina Martina sing “The Presidents’ Day Song” during one of her December holiday shows in Seattle. It seemed like an excellent idea for a party and a playlist, so a few years ago I brought cherry pies (to perpetuate the wrongheaded notion… Continue reading

  • Researching the History of Your Neighborhood (Part Two)

    In Part One of this neighborhood history series, I wrote about finding secondary sources of information about the history of your neighborhood. In this post I’ll take a look at some top sources for conducting your own original research. Continue reading

  • Researching the history of your neighborhood (Part One)

    On January 21, I had the pleasure of attending a History Café event about neighborhood history. History Cafés are free, informal events that focus on various local history topics. They are held on the third Thursday of each month, from 7-8 p.m., at Roy Street Coffee and Tea in Capitol Hill. For more information and… Continue reading

  • Telling downloads: Top downloadable books

    Did you know that the company the library uses for digital books (OverDrive) publishes its top ten lists of titles downloaded every month? Me either. I took a look at the top ten adult fiction and nonfiction titles downloaded from libraries in the U.S., Canada and the UK to see if I could glean any… Continue reading

  • Stupid Cupid

    Oh, Valentine’s Day … how I utterly dislike you. Every year I try to avoid this holiday like the plague and try to come up with different ideas so the day doesn’t choke me with its pink tulle grocery store displays, giant 7-Eleven Valentine’s Day cards and red “I LOVE YOU” Mylar balloons. One year I… Continue reading

  • February Question of the Month – an irregular series

    During the French Revolution of 1789-1799, a woman was executed. She was married to a member of the nobility. Her husband was a well known scientist (?), as was she. What was her name? Thank you for your question. The French husband and wife scientific team were Antoine and Marie Lavoisier. Lavoisier, a chemist and physicist, established… Continue reading

  • Seattle Picks: Set in Seattle

    Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie Someone is murdering white men in Seattle, scalping them and leaving owl feathers behind. As racial tensions rise to fever pitch, suspicion falls on John Smith, an Indian raised by white parents. Leaving Yesler by Peter Bacho Choices are few for a mixed-race working class kid from the projects, but… Continue reading

  • Getting the biggest bang for your download on Freegal

    I love long pieces of music – music where I can be taken somewhere; music that demands to be experienced, not just to be played in the background. Opera? Yep. Symphonies? Definitely. Progressive Rock, Jazz, experimental anything – I’m ready and waiting. When I heard that the library now subscribes to Freegal (an online database… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites for Children: Dogs!

    Don’t Lick the Dog: Making Friends with Dogs by Wendy Wahman In this delightful rhyming tale, children learn how to interact safely with dogs, such as how to approach a strange dog, give a dog a treat or tell if he is friendly. Yes, there’s a lesson here — but it’s a fun and friendly… Continue reading

  • And They Lived…

    As children our parents read us stories with happy endings; it’s just part of the innocence of childhood and into adulthood we come to expect that big Hollywood ending. The first movie I saw that didn’t go the way I wanted it to was My Best Friend’s Wedding starring Julia Roberts. I was angry that… Continue reading

  • Mumblewhat?

    “Mumblecore” is a term used to describe a type of movie that’s been flourishing in the last few years: small, independent films where the focus is on dialogue and everyday interactions between characters that are realistic in tone. Many of the movies are made by one group of rotating directors, writers, and actors who work… Continue reading

  • Armistead Maupin is a man I dreamt up

    A couple of weeks ago I checked out Mary Ann in Autumn: A Tales of the City Novel by Armistead Maupin and felt positively giddy about my reunion with the characters I’ve gotten to know so well through all eight novels. It was way back in 1976 when Tales of the City began running in weekly… Continue reading

  • Give wisely and give often

    We’ve worked hard for our money. And now we want to give some of it back to the community. We’ve seen the donation kettles and the Seattle Times Fund for the Needy ads. But my watchword is to check before I write the check. Is the charity legitimate or has it just picked a worthy-sounding… Continue reading

  • It takes a village

    No matter what the government says, to my family and maybe to yours, we’re still in a depression. I’m remembering the stories my parents told me about the last Great Depression and glad that I hadn’t been around for that one. Now it’s my turn to worry. Continue reading