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  • Shakespeare Lives!

    It is easy to take Will Shakespeare for granted.  So established is he in the cultural and academic pantheons that even the frequent attempts to update or “jazz up” the plays feel time-honored and traditional.  Two recent movies provide a nice antidote to the standard bardolatry, reminding us just why he is truly immortal. Hank Rogerson’s Shakespeare Behind Bars observes a troupe of… Continue reading

  • Climbing the stairs of Queen Anne

    Wednesday, May 28, was a banner evening for attendees at the annual meeting of the Queen Anne Historical Society at the Queen Anne Branch. Thomas Horton, an architectural designer, gave a fascinating and colorful presentation on the public stairways of Queen Anne Hill, showing various types of stairs, the materials of which they are made and some history of… Continue reading

  • In space, no one can hear you read…

    So, there you are bobbing along weightlessly — another dull evening orbiting Earth. How do you pass the time? Well, if you’re on the International Space Station, you do have some entertainment options! Thanks to a Freedom of Information request, NASA recently released a list of all the books, movies, and music currently on the… Continue reading

  • Summer reading program — for adults!

    It’s Summer Reading time! String up the hammock, pour a glass of lemonade and dive into those beach reads you’ve waited all winter to enjoy. Read, or listen to, three books, write brief reviews and turn in your entry form at any Seattle Public Library. Your reviews will be anonymously displayed to give your neighbors ideas… Continue reading

  • An Ode to Almost Summer — and author Marisa de los Santos

    It’s almost summer. Enjoy the smell of fresh grass clippings, the taste of iced tea with lemon and mint, the feel of a lazy doze in a hammock and the pleasure of a duo of charming, literate, feel-good novels by author Marisa de los Santos. The author’s first novel, Love Walked In, describes the warm… Continue reading

  • June Question of the Month – An irregular series

    The reference librarians at The Seattle Public Library are pretty darn amazing. They don’t know everything, instead they know where to find everything. As part of an irregular series of posts we salute the talented and dedicated reference staff at your local library. Names and other identifying information have been removed from the questions we… Continue reading

  • The New Wing Luke Museum Opening

    From its humble beginnings in a converted garage, the Wing Luke Asian Museum once again opened its doors to the public on May 31, 2008 as a newly expanded 60,000 square foot facility. It is located at 719 South King Street in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. As the nation’s only pan–Asian Pacific American museum, WLAM engages… Continue reading

  • Can you name this monster?

    Recently we hosted a Beholder statue from Dungeons & Dragons outside the Central Library’s 4th Avenue entrance.  My brain had been blocked with a confusion spell so I had to look up the name of the monster on the Wizards of the Coast site where I found this news item about filming a commercial in Seattle. Did you… Continue reading

  • Parlez-vous French Fiction?

    I’m not sure why – I’ve never been much of a Francophile – but I’ve been reading a lot of French authors lately. In English, of course – my high school French is pretty rusty. Fortunately, all the titles below are in translation, so you can enjoy them even if you don’t speak a word of French. Though I bet… Continue reading

  • Ghost Singer as Author

    As I read a recent Seattle Times review of the traveling production, My Fair Lady, the name Marni Nixon “jumped out” at me. The former Seattlite was playing the non-singing role of Higgins’ mother. What a surprise, she’s still active, I thought. A long time admirer of hers, I wondered what would it be like… Continue reading

  • Fun with Physics

    I wonder how many readers are alive to the fun of physics? Nuclear and quantum physics especially seem so intimidating, but they have stimulated remarkable works of whimsy and creativity, well worth a look— Among the first is George Gamow’s Mr. Tompkins series, originally published before the second world war, and now available in paperback… Continue reading

  • Learn to use Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage Database

    Don’t miss an upcoming opportunity to learn about one of our business and investment databases, Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage on Thursday, June 12, from 6 – 7:30pm at the Large Computer Lab in the Central Library. Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage is an excellent resource for company, industry, and investment information. Dan Sovocool, S&P’s representative, will… Continue reading

  • The Vampire List, Part 3: From traditional to modern

    When people hear the words “vampire story” two authors come to mind — Bram Stoker and Anne Rice. These writers pioneered the world of vampire fiction, with Bram Stoker basically creating it and Anne Rice redefining it into what most readers know today. But as we’ve proven in previous lists, Stoker and Rice are not… Continue reading

  • Google – an engine of cultural domination?

    Librarians, including me, typically have a love-hate relationship with Google. We use their tools, just like you, oh yes we do. We are also constantly aware that there is a vast pool of knowledge sometimes called the Invisible Web that Google never shows you. But hey, Google’s motto is “Don’t be Evil.” How bad can dependence… Continue reading

  • Just for fans of Sex and the City …

    All the hype around Carrie Bradshaw and Big hitting the big screen is giving me happy flashbacks to those weekly Sex and the City get togethers — 30 minutes with the TV and another two hours gabbing and laughing with friends. Sure, reruns are on almost every night of the week (or you can reserve… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Three novels to try this summer

    My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki Documentary filmmaker Jane Tagaki-Little gets her big break when she is assigned to travel the U.S. in search of wholesome beef-eating families for a Japanese TV show, My American Wife, sponsored by a large beef-exporting conglomerate. The show is supposed to encourage more beef consumption in Japanese viewers,… Continue reading

  • Time Travelers or Of Slavery, Then and Now

    You’re sitting on a plane and, unbeknownst to you, an age-old dilemma is being replayed. There are no chains. There is no auction block, but your seatmate is enslaved. Sound farfetched? It isn’t; slavery persists in the 21st century. It is a global phenomenon and is harder to recognize and, therefore, more difficult to address.… Continue reading

  • Eeeee eee eeee by Tao Lin: A “book review”

    Tao Lin was in Seattle a little while back and had some very interesting things to say about our fair city. I think that Tao Lin is the first writer I’ve read who was born the year I graduated from high school. He is the sort of writer who cries out for expressions such as “deadpan” and “tongue-in-cheek” and “ennui”… Continue reading