Nonfiction

  • Genealogy 101: How do I get started researching my family’s history?

    You may have heard your friends or co-workers talking about genealogy, or tried to do some searching on the Internet under your family name. Now you would like to do more research to see what you can learn about your family’s history. Seattle is a great place in which to begin working on your family… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites from Magnolia, Ballard and Central librarians

    Paradise by A.L. Kennedy This is one brutal book. You’ll either love it or hate it. Hannah is in her mid-30s and works in corrugated box sales. She’s a hardcore alcoholic in love with Robert, also an alcoholic. From Scotland to Montreal their story unfolds like a train wreck. The writing is what makes this… Continue reading

  • Animal Intelligence: they’re smarter than we think

    “There’s something wrong with the telephone!” My mother is hard of hearing, so my dad installed a very loud ringer on our phone that she could hear even from upstairs. Unfortunately, the system seemed to have a defect. The phone rang, but sometimes there was only a dial tone on the other end of the… Continue reading

  • When journalists turn to crime . . .

    The other day a journalism student came to the Library wanting to try a novel by Edna Buchanan, one of her favorite reporters, and we began talking about why some of our favorite mystery/thriller writers (e.g., Connelly and Buchanan, among others) earned their chops on the crime beat or as investigative journalists.  Of course there’s… Continue reading

  • Historical Statistics of the United States: A portrait in very small strokes

      This amazing compendium must warm the heart of any reference librarian. Historical research generally creates portraits of events and eras  in very broad, sketchy strokes. The image is there, but depicted in terms of ‘trends’, or ‘patterns’ which wash away the minute differences that are reflected in peoples’ lives. This  historical approach is not… Continue reading

  • Water, Bugs, and Trout

    As the warmer weather sets in, my mind increasingly shifts to the creatures who haunt local streams and lakes.  I used to do a lot of bait fishing, but a number of years ago I converted to the ranks of those who lash the water with artificial flies.  There’s a big difference.  For a delightful… Continue reading

  • Seattle’s Food Critics Can Really Write: A Homemade Life and Hungry Monkey

    I just read two fantastic cooking memoirs by Seattle food critics that had me pawing through my pantry and looking at my city anew. The first was Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes From My Kitchen Table.  Wizenberg, the author of the popular food blog Orangette (where she shared recipes and family stories… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Starbucks and Animal Ignorance

    Looking for a summer read? Here are two suggestions from librarians at our Fremont Branch and downtown at the Central Library:  How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else by Michael Gates Gill This goes down like a Mocha Frappuccino on a chilly day. Gill grew up in… Continue reading

  • Vegetables at the White House: Tradition or travesty?

    As Librarians we are often called upon to decide a debate. Here is a timely one: Some people are upset that the Obamas planted a garden on the White House grounds, but isn’t it true that the White House used to have a fully functional farm, with livestock and crops, and they’re just reviving this… Continue reading

  • Creative Composting: What to do with those food scraps!

    Now that the growing season is in full swing and new city rules require us to keep food scraps out of the garbage can, do you find yourself with an overflowing yard waste bin each week? If so, perhaps you’ve wondered how hard it would be to convert some of that vegetable matter into lovely… Continue reading

  • Why I love Virginia Woolf

    It’s not because of the plot, nor is it the characters.  It’s the language.  (If you like action-driven page turners, you probably won’t like Woolf.)  Virginia Woolf, along with James Joyce, was one of the pioneers of early Modernism and stream-of-consciousness writing style.  When I first read her novels in college, I fell in love… Continue reading

  • A poem by one of Seattle’s many poets

    For several years, the Northeast branch has offered a Poetry Contest during April for National Poetry Month. 288 kids, teens and adults participated this year and the Awards Ceremony was held on Tuesday, May 19.  The youngest poet was four years old and the oldest was 84 – it’s quite a multigenerational program! Please visit… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: On the Bum, On the Road, Sitting on a Dock in the Bay

    Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell Orwell ekes out a living, as Barbara Ehrenreich did in Nickel and Dimed, the disparity being that Orwell manages to survive several days deprived of food while residing in the most uninhabitable living spaces imaginable. Orwell recounts his experiences in Paris, where he lands a… Continue reading

  • Family Name

    Full of a child’s curiosity, Macky Alston looked around and wondered why how it could be that he and some of his African American schoolmates shared the same last name.  That he, his father and grandfather would have the same name was, certainly, understandable.  And, maybe, following them into the ministry was perhaps, something the… Continue reading

  • Viewing History through a New Lens

    Viewing History through a New Lens I love reading books that help me see history from a fresh angle.  Of course, the narrative has to be interesting, gripping and well-written (no dry textbooks, please).  These days, there are so many great nonfiction history books that fit the bill.  Here are some of my favorites: A… Continue reading

  • Seattle’s Coming Out Party

    According to Paul Dorpat, Seattle’s iconic historian, in the introduction of the wonderful new book by Alan Stein and Paula Becker, Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition A Timeline History (published by Historylink),  Seattle caught a lucky break back in 1907 when Jamestown, Virginia claimed that year for their tercentenary celebration. The event Seattle had planned to celebrate the 10 year… Continue reading

  • Wikipedia and more

    I’m not a computer geek, but I can’t help but be fascinated by the ever-growing, ever-changing participatory online culture in which we now live.  I would call it Web 2.0, but someone who is computer savvier than me would probably point out that Web 2.0 has already been replaced by something newer. One example of… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reading: Amy Stewart on plant books, and planting books.

    Most authors who write about plants are only of interest to the green thumbed, but Amy Stewart’s books are for everyone. Her latest – Wicked Plants: The Weed that killed Lincoln’s mother, & other botanical attrocities – might even save your life, or your pets’. Amy will be appearing around the area next week, including an evening… Continue reading