January 2015

  • Seattle Rep’s ‘Dear Elizabeth’

    Posted by Abby Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell, two giants of 20th century American poetry, first met in 1947 when both were young poets in the early phase of their careers. They began an intense friendship, sustained by frequent letter-writing, that stretched across three decades and ended with Lowell’s death in 1977. A volume of… Continue reading

  • Anticipation: New books in 2015

      by Andrea G. We’re a month into the new year and SPL staff are getting excited about new books slated to come out in 2015. Here are a few we’re particularly looking forward to: Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch An intrepid hero, clever mysteries, entertaining villains, and some wizardry – this fifth book in the… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Beyond Fifty Shades

    Posted by Eric G. There is much more to erotic fiction than Fifty Shades of Grey. If you are waiting for the upcoming film (and even if you’re not), there are numerous notable erotic fiction titles to explore in the meantime. Bound by Lorelei James Lorelei James’ stories should come with an extreme heat warning!… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Unofficial Trilogies

    ~posted by Frank Most trilogies are in-depth stories told over the course of three films. But some films that we accept as being part of a trilogy were not originally conceived that way. The links between the films in these trilogies are the cinematic style and themes of four outstanding directors rather than a continuous story line.   Continue reading

  • Hidden Parks In West Seattle…and Beyond

    I recently read a magazine article about hidden parks in Seattle and it made me think about those little gems that I grew up with in West Seattle. Westcrest Park is a stone’s throw away from where I grew up. It has one of the most amazing views of Downtown Seattle I have seen, besides the deck… Continue reading

  • A Football Championship from the Archives

    ~posted by Jade Still got football on your mind? While perusing our Special Collections Online after Sunday’s game, I came across these photographs of the South School Football Champions of 1895-1896. Needless to say, they piqued my curiosity and I decided to do a little digging. What was the South School and how did its team… Continue reading

  • New Year’s Resolution- To be More Eco-Friendly

    ~posted by Selby With a new year come new year’s resolutions. Whether you want to learn to carve wood, invest in the stock market or create a will, the library probably has something to help you. One of my resolutions is to be more environmentally friendly. After reading the first two books below, I was… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Century Cinema

    ~posted by Mike 1915 was a banner year for cinema. Douglas Fairbanks and W.C. Fields made their film debuts. Future stars like Ingrid Bergman and Orson Welles were born. Cinema continued to capture the imagination of millions, with the medium making huge artistic and technical strides in what was still its infancy. In 1915, going… Continue reading

  • Freegal: Five for Free

    ~ posted by Cameron M. Due to recent changes in the matrix, Seattle Public Library patrons are now allowed five free song downloads a week from Freegal, up from the previous allotment of three weekly downloads.  Let’s take a look and see what’s available. Continue reading

  • Thug Kitchen

    ~posted by Kara Our region is ahead of the rest of the country when it comes to organic farming and produce provided to our population. But even though we spend six billion dollars on food, we only spend 2% of that on local food. One of those reasons is food deserts. Food deserts are something… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Catching Up with Romantic Suspense

    Posted by Eric G. Authors and publishers have wasted no time releasing new romance titles for 2015, and dozens of savvy library patrons are already on the request lists! While waiting for the new ones, this is a great time to read the previous titles from top romantic suspense authors. Local author Jayne Ann Krentz… Continue reading

  • Wandering River

    ~posted by Kara This year for my birthday I wanted to get away; getting away turned out to be Port Angeles, Washington. My boyfriend and I rented a small cottage near downtown and used it as a place to relax, but also to sight see. We lounged in pajamas and cooked lovely meals with a… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Swohs VT Sdrawkcab = Backwards TV Shows

    ~posted by Library Staff In last week’s post, we looked at movies that use reverse chronology—telling their stories in backwards order. This device has also been used to great effect in several TV shows. The most famous example is “The Betrayal,” an episode of Seinfeld in which a series of romantic misadventures unfold in reverse order.… Continue reading

  • Seattle Rep’s ‘The Piano Lesson’

    Posted by Linda J. Playwright August Wilson (who died in Seattle in 2005) won his second Pulitzer for drama with The Piano Lesson, one of 10 plays in The Pittsburgh Cycle. Each play in the cycle focuses on a different decade of the African American experience during the 20th century. The Piano Lesson, set in the… Continue reading

  • Musicophilia and Alive Inside

    ~posted by Bob A few months ago I read Oliver Sacks’ Musicophilia, his collection of truly amazing stories that examine “the neural underpinnings of musical perception and imagery, and the complex and often bizarre disorders to which these are prone,” to quote the book jacket.  The sheer number of different disorders (amusia, dysharmonia, amnesia, aphasia,… Continue reading

  • Two Nonfiction books about the Pacific Northwest: ‘The Boys in the Boat’ and ‘The Boy Who Shot the Sheriff’

    I must confess–every year I tell myself that I will try to read more nonfiction and ever year I read a bit more but perhaps not as much as I had intended. Last year I happened to read two nonfiction titles that delve into different slices of Washington state history. First, I had heard so… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Seivom Sdrawkcab = Backwards Movies

    ~posted by Library Staff I love movies that play with time: the “parallel-universe” narratives of Run Lola Run and Mr. Nobody, the event-shuffling of (500) Days of Summer, the dizzyingly-intercut centuries of Cloud Atlas and The Fountain, the decade-hopping of The Hours, the surreal repetitions of Groundhog Day and Edge of Tomorrow, or the real-time… Continue reading

  • Let’s Get Away

    by Marion S. Winter’s arrival makes me consider visiting places unlike Seattle. My kind of trip is exploring what’s unique about a place and its history. And having some relaxation time.  For my next trip I’m dreaming of a warm or tropical place or just getting far away. In seeking out some books, a few… Continue reading