Fiction

  • Romantic Wednesdays: I Love New York

    In a dynamic city of over eight million people, you’re bound to find some romance! Here are some noteworthy reads that will stir up love for the Big Apple. Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin Ellen is a successful New York photographer, living in a great apartment with her adoring husband, Andy. Life seems… Continue reading

  • Fall books and some author events to get excited about

    So while not all of these are technically coming out in the fall (a couple are already out), these are some of the books that will be generating buzz in the months to come. I read Marisha Pessl’s Night Film a couple of months ago and have been telling patrons about it ever since, even though… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Gay Romance

    by Tracy Timmons Gray The library is a wonderful place to find love stories, and now more than ever, you can find romance titles that are representative of the many different relationships you see in real life, including LGBT romance. The Seattle Library has a growing collection of gay romance (also known as male/male romance… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: An interview with Grand Master of Science Fiction James Gunn

    In this week’s Science Fiction Fridays, we are honored to have an interview with Grand Master of Science Fiction, James Gunn. His stunning new novel, Transcendental, is a smart, complex and stirring novel that has echoes of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. There are so many interesting aliens in Transcendental. Where do you start when creating aliens?… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Paperbacks to go!

    When we started this weekly romance post several months ago, our goal was to highlight the extensive collection of romance titles available for checkout from The Seattle Public Library. But did you know that the Library also has a significant number of paperbacks that don’t appear in our catalog? We order these books in addition… Continue reading

  • Historical Fiction: Richard III

    The menacing Richard III portrayed by artists and in literature may reflect more of Tudor political machinations than of the man who was Richard of Gloucester. Labeled villain by Shakespeare in “The Tragedy of Richard III, “an “elvish-marked, abortive, rooting hog,” (Act 1.iii), many authors and historians since have built stories based on Richard’s guilt,… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Five audiobooks guaranteed to make your commute better

    Friday by Robert Heinlein In which an creche-born would-be assassin discovers the joy of polygamy. There isn’t much in the way of plot here, and the misogyny is horribly dated, but there is still plenty of charm in this comic and irreverent romp. Friday is a fun character with brains and beauty in equal bounty who searches for a… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Sports Romance

    We all know that there are seasons for every sport, even if they have started to blur a bit (I swear that basketball and hockey seasons used to be over by April, once upon a time). But with sports-themed romances, the season never ends! In Jaci Burton’s Play-by-Play series she manages to make every single… Continue reading

  • Do you like speculative fiction? Check out Seattle’s own Clarion West!

    The Clarion West Writer’s Workshop is a gem of the Seattle literary world. They hold workshops throughout the year and a fantastic, crowd-funded write-a-thon for writers around the world. Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Love and Mummies

    Amelia Peabody Emerson liked nothing better than to camp for a season in a nice dry tomb while her husband excavated a nearby site. After all, that was how she met him! Crocodile on the Sandbank introduces us to Amelia Peabody, a Victorian bluestocking who is roughly 30 years old, and who absolutely refuses to live the… Continue reading

  • Columbia Branch Staff’s Favorites

    The Columbia Branch staff put up a popular Staff Picks display throughout July to celebrate this year’s Summer Reading Program. Here are some of the books the Columbia Branch staff loved: Blankets by Craig Thompson This graphic novel tells a story of coming of age, first love and early adulthood. Thompson captures those timeless themes perfectly… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: The essential James Tiptree, Jr. reader

    James Tiptree, a pseudonym for feminist science fiction writer Alice Sheldon, is one of those authors that feels like a secret treasure just for those genre fans in the know. Her influence can be seen far in wide in authors as diverse as Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin and Robert Reed. Few authors have… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: 2013 RITA Award Winners

    On July 20th, the Romance Writers of America (RWA) announced the winners of the 2013 RITA Awards, which honor excellence in romantic fiction. From supernatural mysteries, to teen dystopian fiction, to fresh contemporary love stories, these books represent the diversity and breadth of the romance genre. The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James Equal… Continue reading

  • Crime Comics: Fiction and Non-Fiction

    Crime comics were big in the 1940s and 50s, but when adoption of the Comics Code Authority in 1954 limited the types and severity of crime cartoonists could depict, their popularity waned. In recent decades crime comics have gained in popularity and stature as several talented creators have worked to resurrect and reinvent the genre,… Continue reading

  • Addicted to the Series

    These books are in no way related to each other except for the fact that they are series that I am completely addicted to! Touched by an Alien is fun and a complete guilty pleasure for me. When I told people how much I loved the series they just kept saying, “Really, Kara!? Touched by… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: Real-Life Historical Romance

    Whether meeting (or creating) the perfect mate, experiencing a marriage gone wrong or finding lifelong love, romance is a main theme in much of life. Here are a few historical accounts of real-life relationships: How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain’s Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate by Wendy… Continue reading

  • Historical Fiction: World War II at Sea

    Seattle’s Seafair Fleet Week (July 31–August 4) is a 64 year annual tradition that brings military ships to the Port of Seattle for public viewing, to honor the men and women who serve their country at sea. Historical novels about World War II at sea add a vivid and exciting dimension to our celebration. Older books, like Nevil Shute’s… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Friday: The three best 19th century fantasies. Oh, also with dragons!

    A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir By Lady Trent by Marie Brennan An irrepressible young woman in a stifling alternate history Victorian age finds action and adventure when her new husband takes her on an expedition to study dragons in their natural environment. The way the author uses little period details to flesh out the… Continue reading