Fiction

  • Seattle Author Bernadette Pajer Reads at Fremont Library

    Seattle mystery writer Bernadette Pajer will read from her latest book, The Edison Effect: a Professor Bradshaw Mystery at the Fremont Library on Tuesday October 14th at 6:30 p.m. Books will be available for purchase and signing. The Edison Effect: a Professor Bradshaw Mystery is the fourth book in the series of University of Washington… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday – Careful What You Think!

    By Richard C. I would be in big, big trouble around telepaths! But it is fun to think about, and telepathy has been a compelling sci/fi theme for decades. These six telepathy tales cover the empowering and sometimes maddening experience of mind readers: 1) The Demolished Man (1953) In one of the earliest takes on telepathy in sci/fi, ruthless… Continue reading

  • LGB-T!: Transgender Materials at the Library

    Recently, The Seattle Public Library tabled at the Gender Odyssey conference, the first time a library has been present at a major national conference for the trans community. In preparation for the conference, John from the Capitol Hill branch assembled a number of lists to highlight some of the many trans materials we have in our collection, from teen fiction to… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: LGBTQ

    One of the things you’ll find at our upcoming Banned! Books in Drag event at Neighbours Nightclub on Saturday, 9/27 are lots of LGBTQ booklists. Among them will be lists of gay and lesbian romance. Here are some hot gay and lesbian romances to try: Lickin’ License by Intelligent Allah This urban fiction lesbian story… Continue reading

  • LGBTQ: Banned & Challenged Books

    During Banned Books Week, we highlight the importance of the Freedom to Read. But what does that mean, exactly? While we welcome patron comments about materials in our collection, upholding intellectual freedom means we believe our collection should have something to please and offend everyone. That means a well-rounded collection should include materials that someone… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday – Leading Women

    By Richard C. Sometimes it’s good to zoom out on your reading tendencies and see what you’re missing.  The leading women in these sci/fi choices may cause you to wonder if some diversity would refresh your favorite themes, or perhaps even spark some new ideas: 1) Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delaney. A poet, linguist, and ship’s captain sci/fi heroine?!… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Spotlight on LGBTQ Romance

    Posted by guest blogger Tracy Timmons Gray If you’re looking for love stories, then the Library is a great place to start! There, you’ll find loads of romances, from mysteries to historicals, from sci-fi to contemporary, and you’ll find a ton of books that star LGBTQ main characters falling in love and finding that awesome… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: Winter Is… Here?

    By Richard C.  Even with summer waning, winter is coming has become a popular phrase, what with the ice-cold specter of death and desolation hovering over the latest installments of A SoIaF. Eagerly awaiting the release of Winds of Winter, know that the coldest season has long snowed up the pages of sci/fi, pages buried deeply in ice ages and harsh glacial landscapes, where the stark realities… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday – Aliens Behind the Scenes

    By Richard C. So often the aliens of our sci/fi stories appear with a bang – their big, sinister ships suddenly hovering over our largest cities. Take the cover of movies like District 9 and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, or the plots of books like Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, where the invasion may be as abrupt as it gets. But what… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: 2014 RITA Award Winners

    By Eric G. It’s that time of year again! The Romance Writers of America (RWA) recently announced the winners of the 2014 RITA Awards, which recognize achievements in romantic fiction. The Sweet Spot by Laura Drake Drake’s novel indeed hit the sweet spot, snagging the Best First Book award. The story focuses on bull rider Jimmy… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Something in the Sky. Something BIG!

    By Richard C. Remember that huge cylinder hovering over Earth, desperately sucking up the ocean in search of long lost whales in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home? Well the “gigantic and probably dangerous object in the sky” theme makes great science fiction. No “take me to your leader” message here, folks, instead an unfathomable confrontation with… Continue reading

  • Adult Summer Reading Challenge: Paranormal Romance

    – posted by Selby G. Part 4 of our Adult Summer Reading Challenge focusing on subgenres of romance. This week’s romance subgenre is a doozy and, admittedly, the reason I started reading romance novels. Paranormal romance is all the weird stuff. Men (and women) who can shape-shift into tigers (or just about any other animal you… Continue reading

  • Alaska beckons

    It’s been quite the hot summer — it has many of us dreaming of going even further north to catch some cool breezes and gain additional daylight hours to play in. Alaska beckons! Ann says: Alaska is vast, beautiful and unforgiving. Many men (and a few women) have been lured to Alaska by its beauty and its… Continue reading

  • Holy Exclamation Points, Batman!!!

    ~posted by Jenny C. All the staff favorites we’ve been featuring lead me to want to share my recent favorites with you, too. There may be an excess of enthusiasm in this post, but I’m not going to apologize for that. Great books! Deserve! Enthusiasm! The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg This book… Continue reading

  • Adult Summer Reading Challenge: Amish and Christian Romance

    Posted by Selby G. Part 3 of our Adult Summer Reading Challenge focusing on subgenres of romance. Inspirational or religious romance novels are a hot commodity these days, particularly books featuring the Amish. With no sex, and a lot of God, the focus is more on finding love that nurtures one’s soul than a steamy romance. Continue reading

  • Adult Summer Reading Challenge: Historical Romance

    Posted by Selby G. Part 2 of our Adult Summer Reading Challenge focusing on subgenres of romance. Historic romance novels run the gamut of time and place. Pick up one and you could be transported to the bedchamber of a Tang Dynasty courtesan or the castle of a noble lord. Either way, historical romances are… Continue reading

  • We Romanophiles!

    By Richard C. Villa Gordiani I’m obsessed with ancient Rome. The histories, battles, maps and books. And because I know I’m not alone, here is the first of several posts to come on library resources for (ex mea sententia) those most august and discerning of persons, we Romanophiles! But also for those who love our very first topic, historical… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Cooking Up Romance

    ~posted by Marlene H. We’ve all heard the saying that food is love. It’s the reason that grandmothers start saying, “Eat, eat” as soon as you walk through the door. Food is also love in romance. Culinary romances are fresh, funny, sexy and sometimes make you very, very hungry. Two of the best known food… Continue reading