Fiction

  • Bus Reads for May

    Commuting to Seattle by bus five days a week gives me a lot of reading time. Here’s what I read on the bus in May: Bearskin by James A. McLaughlin A nice little thriller, reminded me a bit of Josh Bazell’s book Beat the Reaper, which I also enjoyed. Rice Moore is seeking a hideout… Continue reading

  • Three on a Theme: There’s a Rabbit on Your Book

    Two new novels and one of last year’s fiction gems have an obvious link with a distinct long-eared creature on the cover. What these books really have in common, however, is within their pages of bitingly funny fiction. Rabbits for Food by Binnie Kirshenbaum (May 2019) It’s been ten years since we’ve been treated to… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW: published when author was under 35

    Book Bingo 2019 is now underway, and we know many of you are out there pouring over your 2019 bingo cards planning what to read, so today I’m here to help you fill the “published when author was under 35” square. Here are some suggestions for fiction, nonfiction and memoir published when the author was… Continue reading

  • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Comics and Graphic Novels

    Seattle Reads recently celebrated Vietnamese American cartoonist Thi Bui’s comics memoir The Best We Could Do. Bui is one of many, many great Asian American and Pacific Islander American cartoonists. In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, librarians at The Seattle Public list created a list of work  from some of these brilliant cartoonists.… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup, May 2019

    With a trio of new releases by local authors (Chiang, McGuire, Bauermeister), a selection of contemporary romances, several short story collections, and the long awaited latest from Thomas Harris, May should have a little something for every reader. 5/7: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang – Khai Diep, on the autism spectrum, is mortified when… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for April

    Commuting to Seattle by bus five days a week gives me a lot of reading time. Here’s what I read on the bus in April: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. This book is so hard to put into words with its madness and dark tales of a person consumed by multiple identities. Born in Nigeria to… Continue reading

  • Why you should read Les Misérables

    You’re watching it on PBS, and maybe you can hum all the tunes from the musical – but there’s nothing quite like reading the book itself. But it’s so looong! True. Compared to the miniseries adaptation‘s six-hour running time, the unabridged audiobook – read by master narrator George Guidall – runs for over sixty hours,… Continue reading

  • The Year’s Best Crime Writing: The 2019 Edgar Awards

    The Year’s Best Crime Writing: The 2019 Edgar Awards

    Pulitzers, Bookers, Nobels – bah! For crime fiction fans it’s all about the Edgars. Last night the winners in several categories of crime and thriller books were announced at the Mystery Writers of America’s annual Edgar Awards ceremony: here’s a full list of these titles in our catalog, including non-fiction, books for children and teens,… Continue reading

  • If You Liked Where the Crawdads Sing

    With its lyrical descriptions of nature and tempestuous love story, Delia Owens’ evocative debut novel Where the Crawdads Sing (a current Peak Pick selection) has taken the literary world by storm. If you enjoyed it, or if you’re still waiting for your reserve copy to arrive, here are some similar titles you might enjoy. Aldo… Continue reading

  • New fiction roundup, April 2019

    Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, and the books actually coming out this April. In the fiction realm, you have several options for revisiting high school and its lasting impacts; stories of immigrants trying to forge their lives in the United States; and much more. Happy Reading! Continue reading

  • Seattle Reads: An Interview with Thi Bui

    In celebration of Seattle Reads 2019, Jess Boyd spoke to Thi Bui about her award- winning graphic novel, The Best We Could Do (TBWCD), the 2019 Seattle Reads selection. _________________________________________ An Interview with Thi Bui by Jess Boyd Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do is a story that moved me, my family and my… Continue reading

  • Historical fantasy – the best of both worlds!

    I appreciate the way genre designations can make books easier to find, but I confess that I love the bleeding edges where books shade from one genre into another; my current bailiwick is historical fantasy. I find that it brings the best elements of historical fiction – a strong sense of time, place, and culture… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for March

    Commuting to Seattle by bus five days a week gives me a lot of reading time. Here’s what I read on the bus in March: If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio. On the day that Oliver is released from prison, Detective Colborne, who worked the case and is now retired, has come to… Continue reading

  • OverDrive Comics and ‘The Best We Could Do’

    The Seattle Public Library has physical comics for children, teens, and adults available for checkout in all of our 27 locations, as well as through our mobile services. We also have comics available through our Hoopla Digital service. But did you know, amongst all of the mysteries, memoirs, and literary fiction e-books, that we also… Continue reading

  • Books for Two or More

    My book group’s selection for January through February was An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen: “When Jessica Farris signs up for a psychology study conducted by the mysterious Dr. Shields, she thinks all she’ll have to do is answer a few questions, collect her money, and leave. But as the questions grow… Continue reading

  • If You Like Liane Moriarty

    If You Like Liane Moriarty

    Here at the library we love talking with readers, both in person and online via our Your Next Five Books recommendation service. As we do so, there are certain authors who readers will mention to us over and over again. Australian writer Liane Moriarty is one of those authors. For many readers, Moriarty strikes the… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup – March 2019

    March sees several new books by Seattle writers, the newest from a former Seattle Reads author, masterful debuts, and the latest from some blockbuster literary fiction authors. 3/5: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – A novel about the whirlwind rise of an iconic 1970s rock group, their mesmerizing lead singer, and… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for February

    Commuting to Seattle by bus five days a week gives me a lot of reading time. Here’s what I read on the bus in February: Brass by Xhenet Aliu. A story of a mother and a daughter and how one’s path sometimes winds it’s way differently than expected. Chapters were told in alternating voices of… Continue reading