Fiction

  • Five novels our librarians suggest for holiday gifts

    Three Northwest authors just happen to have written some of the hottest new books of the season, but we’re also including a British novel (with a Northwest connection!) and an Australian novelist for some international flair. Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie Alexie, one of Seattle’s most enigmatic and daring writers, combines 15 previous and 15 new… Continue reading

  • Exquisite prose

    There are times when I want a rowdy tumble with poetry – with the sly wit of Billy Collins or the seductive songs of Pablo Neruda. Today, though, I celebrate the prose books that make me breathless with delight at the sheer wizardry of their words. An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler Adler describes her… Continue reading

  • YA author Martha Brockenbrough picks 5 books to give teens this year

    Looking for ideas for books to give teen readers in your life? We think Devine Intervention by Seattle author Martha Brockenbrough makes an ideal gift. An L.A. Times review compared it to Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens; others have said Brockenbrough is a good match for readers who like John Green. But what else would make a good… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Bulletproof Fiction Part II

    Here is part two of my suggestions for the growing number of authors who are writing stories with superheroes in more realist settings, or as I like to call it, bulletproof fiction! Check out Part I for more suggestions. The Ghosts of Manhattan by George Mann The Ghost is the haunted vigilante of an alternate history… Continue reading

  • Dark Reads for Dark Winter Days

    In many ways, winter is an ideal setting for a story. Stark landscapes of vast white nothingness, silence punctured by the occasional chirp of a bird or a distant train whistle, and the sense of time standing still provide a fitting backdrop for tales of sorrow, solitude, suspense and ennui. Here are five fiction selections… Continue reading

  • Death Comes Knocking

    Because I could not stop for Death, He kindly stopped for me. The Carriage held but just ourselves And Immortality. -Emily Dickinson A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore is an edge-of-your-seat read. After seeing a man in mint green at his wife’s hospital bedside – a man he shouldn’t be able to see – Charlie Asher’s life… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: You like Dresden? I like Dresden!

    Or at least, I really dig sarcasm with my paranormal adventures. If you’re looking for snarky, smart-ass dialogue combined with uncompromising ethics, well… there are fewer great picks out there than one might hope. However! Here are a few to tide us over as we wait for the next Dresden Files book to show up… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: To never sleep again

    What if you never needed to sleep? What if you were hyper-intelligent and used your every waking hour better and more efficiently than those who did need sleep? If you were Sleepless, would the Sleepers appreciate or fear you? Nancy Kress’ powerful novel Beggars in Spain asks these questions and more while creating memorable characters… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Five more favorites from our librarians

    Surface Detail by Iain Banks Lededje finds herself in the middle of the dangerous machinations of the all-powerful Culture who turned its attention to solving the problem of death itself by creating a virtual afterlife. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett After an eccentric scientist discovers an infinite number of alternate Earths only a “step”… Continue reading

  • SPL Discoveries: Elisabeth Sanxay Holding

    I’m a big fan of the Hardcase Crime imprint, which has been publishing a succession of luridly jacketed vintage pulp fiction alternated with contemporary noir ever since their premiere title – Grifter’s Game by Lawrence Block – in the sultry summer of 2004. I also love Stark House, a small press publishing a steady stream of vintage crime fiction by… Continue reading

  • Chinese writer Mo Yan wins 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature

    Chinese writer Mo Yan was awarded the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature on October 11, 2012. Born to a peasant family in 1955, Mo grew up in Gaomi, Shandong Province. He joined the People’s Liberation Army in 1976 and published his first novel in 1981 while he was serving in the army. Many of his… Continue reading

  • Crime: Murder can be scary!

    Hallowe’en is the time for dipping into ghost and horror stories, but there is plenty of spooky crime fiction out there too. Continue reading

  • SPL Discoveries: Craig Holden.

    Okay, maybe we didn’t discover them, but here are writers, old and new, that we wish more readers knew about.  Librarians have been known to carry concealed weapons; Craig Holden’s 1999 crime novel Four Corners of Night is one of mine.  Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Fantasy with emotional bite

    I’m gearing up for my Halloween reading frenzy by reading some fantasy novels that really tug at the heartstrings. Before I get to the blood and guts horror of my usual October reads, I thought it might be nice to share these three books you are sure to find moving, though not always in pleasant… Continue reading

  • Crime: Macavity Macavity… Award-winning mysteries.

    Most crime readers are aware that there are mystery awards – the Edgars, right? – but not everyone knows just how many awards there are. There are the Agatha Awards for best domestic mystery; the Shamus Awards for detective novels; Britain’s Dagger Awards, and many, many more. And for a quarter of a century, the Mystery Readers International’s Macavity Awards (named… Continue reading

  • Where It’s At: New books by local authors

    This fall brings a particulary good bumper crop of new books by local authors. There must be something in the air/water/mountains/evergreens/coffee to generate this much awesomeness in one place. Here are some new and upcoming releases to kickstart your fall with some Pacific Northwest flavor: Blasphemy: New and Selected Short Stories by Sherman Alexie Sherman Alexie… Continue reading

  • Staff favorites: Three Novels our Librarians Love

    Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks Based on the true story of Caleb Cheeshahteaumauck, who in 1665 was the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College, this luminous novel explores the intersecting lives of white settlers and Native Americans in the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Bethia, the outspoken daughter of a Puritan… Continue reading

  • Science Fiction Fridays: Just for the thrill of it

    Even though it is October, I don’t feel it’s quite time to unleash my lists of great horror science fiction and fantasy. But I’ve got a three great science fiction and fantasy thrillers that are sure to hit that reading sweet spot that always occurs (well, for me at least!) post-Labor Day but pre-Halloween. Make sure… Continue reading