October 2023

  • YA and Adult Book Pairings

    If my own tastes in reading are any indication, there’s less of a divide between those who read young adult and adult books than some might think. As a former Teen Services Librarian and current Adult Services Librarian, my reading is split about 50/50 between teen and adult books. Like macaroni and cheese, wine and… Continue reading

  • New to our Shelves: Hawaiian-Language Children’s Books

    If you head to the World Languages section of the Faye G. Allen Children’s Center in the Central Library, you’ll see something new: a selection of colorful Hawaiian-language picture books. The Library recently added our first Hawaiian-language books to our collections, including 58 unique titles and 107 copies. It started with a surprise donation. Last… Continue reading

  • A Peek at Peak Picks – late October to December

    19 titles are joining Peak Picks through the end of 2023! In adult fiction, National Book Award winner Alice McDermott provides a riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War in Absolution; Jonathan Evison delivers a poignant story about a 102-year-old nursing home resident seeking love and redemption in Again and… Continue reading

  • Three on a Theme: Cozy Horror

    ‘Tis the season for terrifying tales! But do they all have to be terrifying? Could they also be cozy? Yes, they absolutely can be cozy! What constitutes a “cozy” horror story is highly subjective, but some common examples that folks reference are The Addams Family, Over the Garden Wall, Scary Stories to Tell in the… Continue reading

  • In the Deep Dark Woods

    Growing up with the woods at my back in Central Oregon, forests have always been closest to the sublime for me. Forests hold beauty, magic, mystery, and little bit of terror – there is nothing quite so eerie as the silence of the woods on a snowy winter’s day. Since moving to Seattle, with its… Continue reading

  • Using Horror to Expose Truths About Race: Tananarive Due at the Central Library on Nov. 1

    Using Horror to Expose Truths About Race: Tananarive Due at the Central Library on Nov. 1

    Halloween might be on Oct. 31, but the season continues at the Central Library on Wednesday, Nov. 1, when award-winning horror writer and Jordan Peele collaborator Tananarive Due appears to discuss her much-anticipated new novel “The Reformatory,” just one day after it’s released. The event, which runs from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., is free… Continue reading

  • Haunted Houses

    When it comes to horror tropes, the haunted house is one of my favorites, and this year I’m in luck as we have a bounty of horror fiction featuring haunted houses to choose from. Given that horror is often seen as a lens on contemporary fears and anxieties, both as exploration and commentary, I wondered… Continue reading

  • Murder: What’s Age Got to Do With It?

    The beginning of autumn always makes me want to curl up with a good book and a steaming mug of tea and nothing is cozier to me than a cozy mystery. With protagonists ranging from “your average 30 something whose life has been upended and must return home” to (usually) “single women who inherit mysterious… Continue reading

  • Horror Tales for Teens

    Horror Tales for Teens

    Halloween is around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than to read these terrifying tales? In Katie Alender’s The Companion, orphaned Margot learns that she is being brought to live with a wealthy family to be a companion to their daughter Agatha, who is completely silent. After a series of strange events, it appears… Continue reading

  • 11 Not-to-Miss Author Events in October and November 2023

    Fall is a great time to sink into a riveting read. Even better: Read the book, and then see the author speak at one of these upcoming events with The Seattle Public Library. From Tananarive Due’s new horror novel set in Jim Crow-era Florida to Lauren Groff’s 17th century survival story to new books by… Continue reading

  • 1990s Vampires

    The days are getting shorter and colder, the fog is rolling in every morning. Fall has arrived, and with it, spooky season! Many may be familiar with local sparkly vampires, but for horror fans looking for a more menacing take on the creature, check out these three titles. My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due… Continue reading

  • New Nonfiction Roundup – October 2023

    October abounds with some of the most notable nonfiction of the year! Celebrity autobiographies are in demand this month: Britney Spears details her journey to freedom following the end of her conservatorship in The Woman in Me; Henry Winkler revisits The Fonz, and more lovable TV characters, in Being Henry; Dolly Parton celebrates her passion… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup, October 2023

    October brings a robust slate of fresh horror reads, plus new books from heavy hitters like John Grisham, Jesmyn Ward, Jonathan Lethem, Jhumpa Lahiri, and more! 10/3: Brooklyn Crime Novel by Jonathan Lethem Residents of one Brooklyn neighborhood experience – but remember differently – community, crime, real estate speculation and gentrification over 50 years. (general… Continue reading

  • Now Showing in Blu-ray

    Now Showing in Blu-ray

    Beginning this fall, patrons will have an additional way to view movies, TV series and documentaries when the Library begins offering Blu-ray format for filmed media titles that are only available as a Blu-ray disc. This means our collection of filmed media will offer access to: DVDs Combo Packs (Blu-ray disc + DVD disc) Blu-rays… Continue reading

  • Air Conditioning Comes to The Library’s Northeast and Southwest Branches 

    We have good news: The Seattle Public Library is adding air conditioning to the Northeast and Southwest branches, which will increase our ability to serve as a refuge from heat and wildfire smoke and reduce our carbon footprint. But it does mean that in November, those branches need to close temporarily while their new electric… Continue reading

  • Protecting the Freedom to Read: Five Months of Books Unbanned

    “There are very few books with ANY minority characters at the libraries in my state, so I never see people like myself represented in written media.” – Age 16, Alabama “I am a young person living in a rural-adjacent area without access to a local library.” – Age 18, Nebraska “I live in a rural… Continue reading