Nonfiction
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Pacific Northwest Nature
Our region offers so many incredible opportunities to experience nature, from the mountains to the Puget Sound, from the Duwamish Green Belt to the Burke-Gilman Trail, to the University of Washington Arboretum right here in Seattle. Here are some reading suggestions to fill your PNW nature square for this year’s Book Bingo! Local author and… Continue reading
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Censorship
While Summer Book Bingo has featured “Banned” as a category for many years (2015-2017) and “Banned or challenged book” in 2022, we still get reader requests to feature “Banned Books” as a category every year. As book bans are increasing, it’s not surprising that readers want to highlight this, but we mostly see the same… Continue reading
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Found Family
While stories of romantic love and family drama are easy to find, many of us, especially queer folks who might be estranged or abandoned by their families of origin, find community, solace, and meaning through a network of friends who become family – also known as “found family” or “chosen family,” which is one of… Continue reading
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6 Books for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month, but often, Pacific Islander and Filipino books and authors are less acknowledged in publishing, articles and displays. Here are some Pacific Islander and Filipino voices to discover in May and beyond. “Kapaemahu,” a picture book by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer and Joe Wilson, illustrated by Daniel… Continue reading
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Book Bingo 2025 Goes Big, and Begins Today
Your favorite summer reading adventure begins today, with a plot twist! Every summer we partner with Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) for Book Bingo, our summer reading program for adults and teens. For 2025, we are thrilled to share that King County Library System (KCLS) is joining the fun! Readers in all corners of King… Continue reading
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Local Pulitzer Prize Talent and More!
The 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners were announced on Tuesday, May 5th, and Seattle (unsurprisingly a City of Literature) was represented incredibly well! Local author and illustrator Tessa Hulls won for Memoir or Autobiography with her incredible graphic memoir Feeding Ghosts, while local author Stacey Levine achieved finalist status for Fiction with Mice 1961, Seattle Times… Continue reading
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New Nonfiction Roundup – May 2025
Welcome to May! In addition to this month’s Peak Picks, there are a lot of excellent new nonfiction books to consider. In biography, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Ron Chernow illuminates the full, fascinating, and complex life of the writer long celebrated as the father of American literature, Mark Twain; Christopher Clarey examines the influence of Rafael Nadal… Continue reading
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A Peek at Peak Picks – May 2025
We’re adding ten new Peak Picks in May! In fiction, Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive in The Emperor of Gladness; Christina Li’s adult debut reveals the secrets that lie in wait in the crumbling mansion of a former Hollywood starlet,… Continue reading
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May 2025 Author Events: Ada Limón, “Empire of AI,” and More
We have some amazing events at the Library in May, from a talk with New Yorker editor Michael Lo about his fascinating history of Chinese immigration to a just-added event with author Karen Hao about “Empire of AI,” her behind-the-scenes story of what went wrong at OpenAI. All Library events are free and open to… Continue reading
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9 Cookbooks for Spring Meal Inspiration
When the seasons start to shift, I begin to crave a change in the recipes I’ve been making for several months, a little inspiration to get some new flavors in the cooking rotation. If you’re also looking for a little spark and something new, check out the books below. Some titles have fairly long waits,… Continue reading
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National Park Week 2025
April 19 to April 27 is National Park Week, a time to celebrate our national parks! At a moment when we’re seeing drastic changes to national park funding and staffing, there’s no better time to appreciate the robustness and diversity of our national park system. Find a park and plan a visit, make a playlist… Continue reading
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Celebrate National Poetry Month and Seattle Reads 2025 With These Books
For only the second time in the history of Seattle Reads, the library’s citywide book club, a book of poetry has been selected. “You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World,” an anthology edited and introduced by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, features 50 American poets observing and reflecting on their place in the natural world,… Continue reading
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New Nonfiction Roundup – April 2025
Happy April! There’s a lot of outstanding nonfiction to consider this month. In self-care, Gretchen Rubin distills her key insights into simple truths for living with greater satisfaction, clarity, and happiness in Secrets of Adulthood while Melinda Gates draws from previously untold stories to offer a new perspective on encountering transitions in The Next Day.… Continue reading
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What Seattle Read in the First Three Months of 2025
Are you curious what books Seattle readers have turned to in a year that’s already been very eventful? See for yourself in our list of top Library checkouts for the first three months of 2025. As usual, the most popular print book checkouts are from the Library’s very popular no-holds, no-wait Peak Picks collection (which… Continue reading
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Women’s Health Resources: Menopause
With government health care information becoming spotty at best, or altogether missing at worst, especially as it relates to women’s health and individuals who are LGBTQIA+, it can feel overwhelming to try to find accurate medical information without making an appointment with your doctor, just to ask questions. Though staff are not medical professionals and… Continue reading
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Nonfiction for Women’s History Month
Celebrate Women’s History Month with this selection of recently published memoirs and history highlighting women in the United States, and find more in our booklist Women’s History Month 2025. The Movement: How Women’s Liberation Transformed America, 1963-1973 by Clara Bingham Weaving together over 100 oral histories, Bingham brings to life the first ten years of… Continue reading
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U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón to Visit Seattle and More Seattle Reads News
Ready, set, mark your calendars! Beginning next week, Seattle Reads, the Library’s citywide book group, is planning more than two months of community programming for our 2025 selection “You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World,” edited by the 24th U.S. Poetry Laureate Ada Limón. There is literally a program for everyone in our city.… Continue reading
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Kick Off with Women’s Soccer Part 2 – Fiction
The National Women’s Soccer League season is off to a thrilling start! You may have seen my last post about the NWSL with library resources to get you prepped and excited for the season. Ready for women’s soccer to take over more of your brain space? Here are some novels and movies so you can… Continue reading