Fiction

  • More Librarians in Fact & Fiction

    Sensible shoes.  Hair in a bun.  Glasses perched on the tip of a nose.  Tweed suits.  Do you recognize the occupation?  Shhhhh!  Whisper the answer!  You’re in the library!  Yes, librarians have been battling this stereotype for years.  Thankfully, books are helping us change our image. While some books work subtly to show librarians in… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Delridge, Madrona and South Park readers share a few suggestions

    Espionage, werewolves, Ivy League and the Ivory Coast — aaah, summer reading! Take a look at the varied reading happening around town, with a sampling of titles recommended by Seattle readers. We’d love to hear what you’re reading, too! Sign up for the Adult Summer Reading Program and share your recommendations with other book lovers around… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Green Lake and International District reader suggestions

    Want to share what you’re reading? Enter the Adult Summer Reading Program at any branch (or downtown at the Central Library), write one or two sentences about three books you’ve read. You’ll be entered in a weekly drawing to win a book bag (one winner per week at each location; lots of chances to win!).… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: West Seattle and Southwest reader suggestions

    In Seattle, the term “beach reads” is generally used figuratively (if not a little wistfully) for books more generally read on decks, in parks, on busses, but not on our pebbled shores. In West Seattle, however, beach reading actually happens on a beach! Here is some of what readers at our West Seattle and Southwest branches… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Fremont and Queen Anne reader suggestions

    Want to share what you’re reading? Enter the Adult Summer Reading Program at any branch (or downtown at the Central Library), write one or two sentences about three books you’ve read. You’ll be entered in a weekly drawing to win a book bag (one winner per week at each location; lots of chances to win!).… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Wallingford and Ballard readers offer suggestions

    How do you find what to read next? Most of us count on personal recommendations from friends and neighbors (and, of course, librarians!). As part of the Adult Summer Reading Program, readers throughout Seattle are writing super short “reviews” of what they’ve been reading. Readers in Wallingford recommend: The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters A Brother… Continue reading

  • Book review: Wicked Game by Jeri Smith-Ready

    When former con artist Ciara Griffin gets a job as a marketing intern at a dying radio station, she’ll do anything to stop a corporate takeover—even if that means exposing the DJs’ undead status in an effort to boost ratings. Wicked Game is a good story with a strong, engaging plot and interesting approachable characters. … Continue reading

  • Metro Reads 2: What are you reading on the bus?

    Do you notice what people are reading? At a coffee shop? At the dentist’s office? On the bus? We notice — and not just because we work at a library. Sometimes we notice because we want a good book to read; sometimes we get excited because we read and loved that same book. Most of… Continue reading

  • In space, no one can hear you read…

    So, there you are bobbing along weightlessly — another dull evening orbiting Earth. How do you pass the time? Well, if you’re on the International Space Station, you do have some entertainment options! Thanks to a Freedom of Information request, NASA recently released a list of all the books, movies, and music currently on the… Continue reading

  • An Ode to Almost Summer — and author Marisa de los Santos

    It’s almost summer. Enjoy the smell of fresh grass clippings, the taste of iced tea with lemon and mint, the feel of a lazy doze in a hammock and the pleasure of a duo of charming, literate, feel-good novels by author Marisa de los Santos. The author’s first novel, Love Walked In, describes the warm… Continue reading

  • Parlez-vous French Fiction?

    I’m not sure why – I’ve never been much of a Francophile – but I’ve been reading a lot of French authors lately. In English, of course – my high school French is pretty rusty. Fortunately, all the titles below are in translation, so you can enjoy them even if you don’t speak a word of French. Though I bet… Continue reading

  • Just for fans of Sex and the City …

    All the hype around Carrie Bradshaw and Big hitting the big screen is giving me happy flashbacks to those weekly Sex and the City get togethers — 30 minutes with the TV and another two hours gabbing and laughing with friends. Sure, reruns are on almost every night of the week (or you can reserve… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Three novels to try this summer

    My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki Documentary filmmaker Jane Tagaki-Little gets her big break when she is assigned to travel the U.S. in search of wholesome beef-eating families for a Japanese TV show, My American Wife, sponsored by a large beef-exporting conglomerate. The show is supposed to encourage more beef consumption in Japanese viewers,… Continue reading

  • Eeeee eee eeee by Tao Lin: A “book review”

    Tao Lin was in Seattle a little while back and had some very interesting things to say about our fair city. I think that Tao Lin is the first writer I’ve read who was born the year I graduated from high school. He is the sort of writer who cries out for expressions such as “deadpan” and “tongue-in-cheek” and “ennui”… Continue reading

  • Destination Venice

    If your interest is piqued by ancient cities with mazes of streets and canals, of hidden plots and secrets, then you must like reading about Venice. The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt begins on January 29. 1996 the day the Fenice Opera is destroyed by fire. Berendt’s citizen interviews reveal the intricacies of… Continue reading

  • The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares

    This haunting novella – sort of an ethereal counterpart to Wells’ Island of Doctor Moreau, inspired in part by the author’s fascination with Louise Brooks, The Invention of Morel is the curious fable of a man lost on an island where he falls in love with the beautiful Faustine, who seems not to know he exists. It is small… Continue reading

  • Cheese Festival at the Market — and some cheese in fiction

    This weekend is the fourth annual Pike Place Market Cheese Festival, where you can learn how to make cheese at home, taste artisanal cheeses from all around the world and listen to cheese experts extol the virtues of cheese in all its stinky, delicious variety. I hope you have a good time. I won’t be… Continue reading

  • A Chicago-based wizard turns hard-boiled detective in The Dresden Files

    The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher chronicles the adventures of Harry Dresden, the world’s only wizard-for-hire, as he investigates crimes with a magical twist and saves the city of Chicago from assorted minions of evil, including vampires, demons and fiendish goats. While some of the basics mechanics of this series aren’t new — magical… Continue reading