2024

  • 6 Books by Artists at the 2024 Short Run Comix Festival

    6 Books by Artists at the 2024 Short Run Comix Festival

    Now in its 12th year, the annual Short Run Comix Festival, which takes place on Nov. 2 at Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavilion, celebrates the fusion of art and literature in the ever-expanding medium of comics. Free and open to the public, Short Run showcases hundreds of emerging and established artists from the Pacific Northwest and… Continue reading

  • What to Read While Waiting for Nobel Prize Winner Han Kang’s Books

    On Thursday, it was announced that South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature for “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.” She is the first South Korean to receive this honor. With this Nobel win, we can expect a new surge… Continue reading

  • Election Resources and Accessible Voting at SPL

    Election Resources and Accessible Voting at SPL

    With less than three weeks to go before Election Day on November 5, 2024, the Library has registration events, booklists, and other informational resources to help inform you on the voting process. Don’t forget to check out this list of Election Resources on the library website for ballot box locations, lists of elected officials, and… Continue reading

  • Highways and Byways

    Roads are infrastructure so ubiquitous they almost resist noticing – until a pothole takes out your axle, or a landslide prevents you from getting to your vacation cabin. But their very existence – from placement, to number of lanes, and more – is also deeply political with profound local impacts. Two recent books look at… Continue reading

  • Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Horror!

    Autumn is Autumning, bringing with it moody, creepy vibes – in other words, the perfect time to read horror! And since it’s Hispanic Heritage Month, check out these three titles for a taste of Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Argentinian horror. House of Bone and Rain: A Barrio Noir by Gabino Iglesias “Todas las historias son… Continue reading

  • Fall Arts Events: Angela Garbes, Lindy West, Rachel Kushner and More!!

    Fall Arts Events: Angela Garbes, Lindy West, Rachel Kushner and More!!

    As fall weather sets in, it’s a good time to mark your calendar with a few of The Seattle Public Library’s exceptional arts and author events in the next couple of months. Gear up for the election with a live “Text Me Back” podcast taping with Lindy West, learn about the connection between homelessness and… Continue reading

  • Grungecore – Three Variations on an Aesthetic

    Grungecore – Three Variations on an Aesthetic

    Would the founding members of grunge music rail against being considered a popularized aesthetic core? Undoubtedly, and for that we apologize, but no one can deny that when grunge music emerged in the 80s and then exploded in the 90s, those shock waves were felt far and wide across the social and cultural spectrum. Out… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup, October 2024

    From spooky tales to epic fantasy and much more, October new releases have you covered as the nights get darker and cooler. 10/1: The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister The Haddesley family has long maintained a supernatural bargain – their family tends the cranberry bog and the bog sustains them, with each generation sacrificing their… Continue reading

  • New Nonfiction Roundup – October 2024

    It’s peak publishing season and October’s nonfiction releases will be in demand. Check out these top picks for the month. In biography and memoir, the wilds of Graceland are the setting for Lisa Marie Presley’s memoir From Here to the Great Unknown (completed by her daughter Riley Keough following Presley’s death in 2023). Stanley Tucci… Continue reading

  • A Peek at Peak Picks – October 2024

    We’re adding fourteen new Peak Picks in October! In fiction, Hugo Award-winning author Nghi Vo introduces a beguiling fantasy city in the tradition of Calvino, Mieville, and Le Guin in the new standalone novel The City in Glass;  legendary storyteller Alan Moore introduces the first book in an enthralling new fantasy series about murder, magic, and madness in post-WWII… Continue reading

  • Get Cozy With It

    With one weekend of rain underway, I’m ready to be on the couch, mug of tea in hand, reading a book that matches my mood. I’m looking for maximum coziness and though you can find cozy fantasy, cozy mystery, and even cozy horror, I’ve been diving into translated Japanese and Korean cozies, with a distinctly… Continue reading

  • Library Impact: A Dementia-Friendly Concert Series at the Memory Hub

    Library Impact: A Dementia-Friendly Concert Series at the Memory Hub

    On a Monday afternoon in mid-August, a spacious courtyard on Seattle’s First Hill is alive with flowers, music, dancing and quiet conversation. It is cloudy, but the mood is all sunshine at the Memory Hub, a dementia-specific community center on the Frye Museum campus founded by the University of Washington Memory and Brain Wellness Center.… Continue reading

  • From Student to Volunteer: Eldad Mekuria Shares her Homework Help Journey

    Eldad Mekuria became a volunteer at Lake City Branch’s Homework Help program during the fall of 2023, which she describes as a “full-circle moment.” As a student at Nathan Hale High School in northeast Seattle, she had attended the Library’s free after-school tutoring program before working as a Student Assistant and Library Associate at the… Continue reading

  • Banned Books Week at the Library and an Update on Books Unbanned

    Celebrate the freedom to read during Banned Books Week at the Library! Launched in 1982 by the American Library Association, Banned Books Week (Sept. 22 to 28 this year) highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to seek out,… Continue reading

  • Books to Check Out for Hispanic Heritage Month

    Hispanic Heritage Month honors the contributions and influence of Hispanic and Latine Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. It is celebrated from September 15 to October 15 annually. Check out one of these recent fiction reads by Hispanic/Latine authors to kick off the month! I describe The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden… Continue reading

  • “That is the Biggest Reward”: Q&A With a Longtime Homework Help Volunteer

    Bruce Finlayson is a retired chemical engineer who has volunteered with Homework Help, The Seattle Public Library’s after-school tutoring program, for about 11 years, always at the Lake City Branch. Until 2019, he kept a diary about his volunteer experience, in which he would write stories about his interactions with the students. “There were times… Continue reading

  • Get into the Back-to-School Mindset with These 5 Books

    September evokes the flurry of back-to-school energy, from school supplies to first-day jitters. For those of us who are no longer students or don’t have students at home, you can still tap into that school spirit in your reading. In “True Biz” by Sara Nović, the setting is the River Valley School for the Deaf, a… Continue reading

  • 10 Surprising Things that You Can Do Through The Seattle Public Library

    10 Surprising Things that You Can Do Through The Seattle Public Library

    You probably know that you can borrow books, use public computers and even reserve meeting rooms, all for free, through the Seattle Public Library. But did you also know that you can access digital newspapers and magazines, streaming services, job resources and personal tutoring in three languages? In honor of Library Card Sign-Up Month this… Continue reading