Movies & TV

  • Meet Me at the Fair!

    What better way to celebrate summer turning into autumn than to visit Western Washington’s annual fairs? Whether it’s stomach-churning rides, admiring quilts, catching live entertainment, communing with chickens, or indulging in that once-a-year-deep-fried-decadence-on-a-stick, there’s something for everyone. Here are the 2010 dates for our local fairs: The King County Fair in Enumclaw happens August 12th-14th;… Continue reading

  • By the Sea Shore

    It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me… Living in Seattle and having access to lakes, rivers… Continue reading

  • Héroes: el momento en que gente común se hace extraordinaria por John Quiñones

    Our library serves people speaking many languages. Here is one of them. Below is a review of  Héroes: el momento en que gente común se hace extraordinaria, the Spanish-language translation of John Quiñones’ book with Stephen P. Williams, Heroes Among Us: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Choices.  John Quiñones es un periodista de la cadena ABC, presentador del programa… Continue reading

  • Library Imitating Art

    As a teenager in the ‘90s, ‘grunge’ was the word. So I was particularly excited to learn about the Seattle Art Museum’s current exhibition, “Kurt,” which features works of art inspired by Kurt Cobain and the Seattle Grunge music movement. But before I throw on my oversized flannel shirt over my baggy jeans and head to the… Continue reading

  • Celebrate Pride with Two Seattle Films

    June is GLBTQ Pride month. Seattle Pride Fest is coming up on June 27th. The Seattle Public Library’s own Bookineers will be marching once again, so look for us there. Looking for other ways to celebrate Pride? Here are two films with ties to Seattle. Alice Wu designed software for Microsoft before she became a director.… Continue reading

  • I Want to Ride My Bicycle

    When I was in college, I lived off-campus with a small army of roommates. I had a great time, and I don’t have any major complaints about my roomies. However, young people often become obsessive with music and play the same albums and songs over and over and over again. For example, I had one… Continue reading

  • Celebrate Mother’s Day

    Why not celebrate Mother’s Day with some books? Here are a few picture books celebrating mothers: Olympia papercut artist Nikki McClure just released a picture book called Mama, Is It Summer Yet? In her beautfully simplistic papercut style, each page depicts a mother and son as they have a conversation about looking in nature for signs… Continue reading

  • The Modern Widower

    The neighborhood is alive with gardeners mowing lawns,                                        and trimming hedges,                  the mechanized hiss of twirling sprinklers           and for those just joining us,            it’s a beautiful day and Hailey is dead and I have nothing to do, nowhere to be. ~ How to Talk to a Widower From 1960s TV sitcoms such as the Andy Griffith… Continue reading

  • Peter Dinklage: Larger than Life

    It’s funny how people see me and treat me, since I’m really just a simple, boring person. There is just something about Peter Dinklage that I find so fascinating and it’s not the fact that he is a little person. The depth of his characters far exceed his four feet five inches. After his father’s… Continue reading

  • Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets movie

    Come to the Central Library this Sunday, March 21, from 2-4pm in the Microsoft Auditorium on Level 1 for a film screening of Ali Zaoua: Prince of the Streets. This film is a memorable and moving portrait of the lives of street kids living in Casablanca’s abandoned lots. Ali, Kouka, Omar and Boubker, four young… Continue reading

  • Not Just a Pretty Face

    It’s not the power of the curse – it’s the power you give the curse. Born with a pig snout for a nose due to her rich family’s curse Penelope, played by Christina Ricci,  must find one man to marry her from the world of high society blue blood to make that curse go away forever.… Continue reading

  • Shamrocks, Shillelaghs, and Shenanigans: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with Children!

    It’s the time of year when we all wish to have a wee bit o’ the Irish heritage in our family tree.  Whether you hail from the Emerald Isles or just wish you did, get ready to dress in green, dance a jig and follow a rainbow to its end. Construct a leprechaun trap, share… Continue reading

  • Modern-Day Slavery series starts February 28

    It is hard to believe and difficult to fathom that you could, today, in the 21st century, find yourself living next door to a slave. Author, Kevin Bales describes how a person might find him or herself in such a dire predicament in the book The Slave Next Door:  Human Trafficking and Slavery in American… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction for the Rest of Us

    I’ll admit it straight up: I’ve never really liked science fiction.  I’ve never seen a single episode of Star Trek or read a book by Robert Heinlein.  But I’m a librarian, and in order to recommend books to readers of every genre, I have to read outside my comfort zone.  Thanks to a coworker, patrons,… Continue reading

  • What’s Next? David Tennant and Doctor Who

    Oh, David Tennant; you were the only Doctor for me. Over the holidays, the British TV series Doctor Who bid farewell to its 10th Doctor and welcomed a new actor to play the 11th (confused? Think James Bond, but with an explanation for the change). Now that it’s over, how are David Tennant fans to… Continue reading

  • The Men of the BBC

    “I’m not hung up about Darcy. I do not sit at home with the pause button on Colin Firth in clingy pants, okay? I love the love story. I love Elizabeth. I love the manners and language and the courtesy. It’s become part of who I am and what I want. I’m saying that I… Continue reading

  • The movie made me love the book: Jane Austen

    We all have one (at least) of those books: a book that you had to read in school and weren’t that into, but is hailed throughout the English-speaking world as a masterpiece; a book that you wouldn’t read again because it’s now so fraught with memories and expectations. For me, that book was Pride and… Continue reading

  • An Unfinished Life

    We all start out so damn sure, thinking we’ve got the world on a string. If we ever stopped to think about the infinite number of ways we could be undone,      we’d never leave our bedrooms.   I’ve had a plethora of women in my life expecting children. Some married, some not, some engaged, some first… Continue reading