November 2020

  • Washington’s Undiscovered Feminists with Mayumi Tsutakawa

    On Dec. 5th, the Seattle Public Library presents a virtual program, Washington’s Undiscovered Feminists with Mayumi Tsutakawa, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. It is about five woman warriors of the Pacific Northwest: pioneering photographer Imogen Cunningham; Black American jazz musician Ruby Bishop; Chinese American artist Priscilla Chong Jue; Leftist journalist Anna Louise… Continue reading

  • Plant Bulbs and Dream of Summer

    Last week I was in the garden, drenched with rain, digging in the mud with rapidly freezing fingers, and feeling suddenly hopeful. I was planting allium bulbs, and thinking about when, months from now, they would bloom. The Summer days would be long, the weather would be warm, and perhaps we’d have friends over to… Continue reading

  • Listen to these Indigenous voices

    The publishing world – and audiobook publishing in particular – is growing more diverse, and there are now many recorded books both created and voiced by Indigenous, First Nations and American Indian authors and narrators. Here are some outstanding listens for you to try: Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message, read by Chief… Continue reading

  • Seattle Hygge

    This has been a year when I have found my sense of cozy vibes becoming more amplified in my home. Between nesting for the arrival of our child, working from home, and just settling in to the Pacific Northwest winter – cozy is front and center of all we do. New couch purchase means piling… Continue reading

  • Watch and Read: The Queen’s Gambit

    Just like with books, shows will also leave me wanting more. While The Queen’s Gambit is based on a book by Walter S. Tevis it’s also pretty darn popular right now, as anyone who has seen the show can probably imagine. So here are a few other diamonds in the rough to get you through…and… Continue reading

  • Dysfunctional Holidays

    I don’t know about you, but for me this has been a very, very long year.  Between Covid-19, the election, and the Black Lives Matter Movement there has been a lot of family tension.  With the holidays coming up it makes it even harder to think of those family dynamics coming into play.  While quarantine… Continue reading

  • Tales (and Recipes) for a Winter’s Night

    Thanksgiving, Christmas, Yuletide, Winter Solstice – no matter the form it takes – tales and food so often play a part. Stories of memories, tales passed on from generation to generation, and recipes too following down the line from grandmother, to daughter, to granddaughter, to great-grandson. The ties that bind us during the holiday season… Continue reading

  • Toolkit for Tough Times: A Sheltering Place

    Happy Starts at Home.  These days, it can take a bit of doing to get to happy! For some it is, exactly, how to work with My Small Space and others, My Bedroom is an Office and Other Interior Design Dilemmas.  See what I mean? It takes work to get to that Clutter-Free Home and… Continue reading

  • Legendary Children: A QTBIPOC Celebration Goes Online

    LEGENDARY CHILDREN is a QTBIPOC-led extravaganza is usually held at Seattle Art Museum, featuring spoken word, performance, dance, and a public runway. Legendary Children is where arts and social justice get real, with QTBIPOC voices ringing loud and clear. Now you know a pandemic can’t stop The Children. Save the date for Saturday Nov 21,… Continue reading

  • Unmuted Spotlights the Connective Power of Personal Storytelling

    Seattle-based memoir author and writing coach Ingrid Ricks recently led a personal storywriting workshop for LGBTQIA seniors and their allies at Seattle’s GenPRIDE center. The workshop built a community of writers and generated an intriguing anthology of fourteen stories entitled Unmuted: Stories of Courage and Resilience from the GenPRIDE Community, released in October to celebrate… Continue reading

  • Two Washington Authors Tackle Labor History

    Washington State is home to an amazing array of authors. You can spend an entire year reading our writers of fiction, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, poetry, children’s literature, nonfiction and more. Check out the Washington State Book Awards for a glimpse of the range of writers that live, work, or have ties to our region.… Continue reading

  • Elections Can Be Funny

    Sometimes you just have to laugh, no? Check out these comic novels that revolve around elections, from our literary elections list.  Amanda Wakes Up, by Alisyn Camerota. Amanda Gallo hits the big time when she lands a news anchor job with the FAIR network, only to find their decidedly unfair election coverage is wreaking havoc… Continue reading

  • Curl Up With a Cozy Cat Mystery

    As night descends sooner and sooner and light autumn rain patters on your windowsill, you may want to consider which books to read with your hot tea as you snuggle in a warm, fleece-lined blanket. Here are five cozy cat mystery series to curl up with. Cat in the Stacks Mysteries by Miranda JamesTake a… Continue reading

  • Three Classic British Sketch Comedy Shows

    During the same period they were bringing Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster to the small screen, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie were sprinkling the British airwaves with their own sketch comedy show A Bit of Fry and Laurie. If you ever thought to yourself, as I have, “Is there any such thing as ‘highbrow absurdist humor’?”… Continue reading

  • Chill Out With These Election Thrillers

    Chill Out With These Election Thrillers

    Is it over yet? It may seem counterintuitive amid election suspense to dip into a white-knuckle political thriller, but for many of us a great thriller is just the catharsis we need. From our list of literary elections, here are some riveting reads. Black Swan Rising, by Lisa Brackmann.Investigating the background of the man who… Continue reading

  • Classic Literary Elections

    Packed with high stakes and inherent drama, it is little surprise that elections figure in many great novels. Drawn from our latest list of literary elections, here are excerpts from a few of our favorites classic fictional campaigns. The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens. “There was a moment of awful suspense as the procession waited… Continue reading

  • Amateurs Getting It Done

    As an avid mystery reader, one aspect of the genre I love the most is knowing that however tumultuous the situation is at the beginning, by the end of the novel the state of affairs will be set right again. Real life is never so certain. Here are three mystery novels wherein regular everyday people… Continue reading