December 2017

  • Mindfulness for a New Year

    Like most folks, I generally look at the beginning of a new year as a chance to reset, hopefully shedding some of those old, bad habits and starting some healthier new ones. And, as I get older and ponder more deeply how I want to be living my life (rather than how I sometimes find… Continue reading

  • Second Chance Romance

    Everyone has their romance catnip, a trope or plot device that makes it an automatic read for them. One favorite is the rekindled romance with a spouse, often after an estrangement or a marriage by proxy. In Eloisa James’s The Ugly Duchess, Theo (Theodora) and James have known each other for years, and Theo thought… Continue reading

  • My Favorite 2017 Science Fiction and Fantasy

    Every year I set reading goals for myself. One of those goals is to read as much as possible. I also try to get to a few older books I have been meaning to read. But trying to read the latest releases in literary fiction, nonfiction and science fiction and fantasy is an evergreen reading… Continue reading

  • New to our digital collections: Seattle’s Town Crier Newspaper

    We’ve just added over 1,200 issues from Seattle’s local arts periodical, The Town Crier, to our digital collections. The Town Crier was a weekly magazine focusing on Seattle’s news, arts and culture between 1910 and 1938. Over its lifetime, the paper included coverage of the work of individuals such as Frank Kunishige, Edward S. Curtis, Ella… Continue reading

  • Our Top 10 Children’s Chapter Books, Poetry, and Graphic Novels of 2017

    Yesterday, Children’s Services Librarians from The Seattle Public Library shared our favorite picture books of the year – and today, we want to share our ten favorites for children, in the “everything else” category!: chapter books, poetry, and graphic novels.  Enjoy! Refugee by Alan Gratz A gripping, timely novel that follows three children – from… Continue reading

  • Our Top 10 Children’s Picture Books of 2017

    Children’s Services Librarians from The Seattle Public Library have selected our ten favorite picture books of the year.  Though it’s a challenge to limit ourselves to ten titles (check out our longer list of favorite 2017 picture books), we all responded to the joy in these ten books – each is a celebration: of home… Continue reading

  • The Art of the Journey

    What do January and December have in common? The letter r, as in near or at the end of a journey. From January to December of this year, we have been on an artistic journey with the year-long Begin Bold End Inspired series focusing on the creative process. Each month offered an opportunity to explore… Continue reading

  • December Literary Holidays

    December may have many holidays for you to celebrate but let me give you a few extra, book-themed holidays to add to your plate. Jólabókaflóð – which translated means “The Book Flood of Christmas” – has been getting a lot of hype recently. In Iceland, the winter months see a large influx of new books… Continue reading

  • Our Top 10 Teen Books of 2017

    Every year, we look for the best books written for young adults. We all have our personal favorites, of course, but there are inevitably a handful of books that rise to the top. This year, our collective favorite titles cover an impressively wide range of timely and important topics, from immigration and criminal justice to… Continue reading

  • Our Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2017

    … according to Seattle Public Library adult librarians Yesterday we listed our librarians’ favorite novels of 2017; today, we present you with the list of our ten favorite nonfiction books published in 2017, from memoirs to essay collections to history and cooking. Continue reading

  • Our Top 10 Novels of 2017

    … according to Seattle Public Library’s adult librarians The librarians here at the Seattle Public Library conferred, and here are our favorite ten novels published in 2017, from a debut mystery to the conclusion of a fantasy trilogy, a debut by a Washington state author to the winner of the 2017 National Book Award for… Continue reading

  • Ideas for Book Giving this Holiday

    Librarians give – and get – a lot of books this time of year. Seeing that familiar shape surrounded by festive wrapping is a special thrill. Sure, we know it is a book, but what book? We recently shared some ideas on how to choose good books for your loved ones. Now here are some… Continue reading

  • E(ART)H

    Humans have been making art of the earth and out of the earth for millennia. In the contemporary world these works are, variously, known as Earthworks, Land Art and Environmental Art. The inspiration found in nature is limitless. For some artists inspiration isn’t enough; they have to get their hands dirty! Stone, soil, water, sand,… Continue reading

  • Baseball Culture in Cuba

    Stateside we sometimes say that baseball is as American as apple pie. Baseball is also the Cuban national sport, so you might say as Cuban as the national dish, ropa vieja. How did it start there? In the USA, we have our myth of Abner Doubleday laying out the ballfield and explaining the rules to… Continue reading

  • New Nonfiction Roundup – December 2017

    Get a head start on 2018 with host of health, fitness and self-improvement books.  A pair of essays from great thinkers and a pair of memoirs from fierce survivors round out December. 12/5: Bobby Flay Fit: Food for a Healthy Lifestyle by Bobby Flay. The popular chef returns with a new cookbook for people interested in… Continue reading

  • Hungry Like a (Dire) Wolf: Cookbooks Inspired by Our Fandoms

    It all starts with a good book. Then a book series. Then, inevitably, a television series or a film. Your fandom is growing, but how can you satiate the hunger? Maybe you seek out your fandom at a convention, and try out cosplaying… What’s left?! What else can you do?! Fanfic, sure, sure. But you’re… Continue reading

  • New fiction roundup – December 2017

    12/1: The Mansions of Murder by Paul Doherty – In the 18th outing for Dominican friar Brother Athelstan, he must figure out how someone committed two murders and escaped from a locked church with a king’s ransom. For lovers of locked room mysteries and historical fiction. 12/1: If the Fates Allow edited by Annie Harper… Continue reading