Fiction

  • Live from Seattle’s Central Library (and Online): Author events this April and May

    Last night (April 12), for the first time in two years, the Central Library opened the doors of its Level 1 Microsoft Auditorium for an in-person author event. Award-winning author Reyna Grande joined Seattle-area writer Kathleen Alcalá on stage for a conversation about her novel “The Ballad of Love and Glory,” about an unforgettable romance… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup – April 2022

    New novels by heavy-hitters such as Jennifer Egan, Emily St. John Mandel, and Douglas Stuart join debut novels involving a heist, police in Lahore, and a trip across the 1880s American West. 4/5: The Candy House by Jennifer Egan Tech mogul Bix Bouton develops “Own your Unconscious,” a technology that allows one to externalize their… Continue reading

  • Read the World: Translated Fiction

    For many of us, if we want to read fiction written in a language other than English we need the help of a translator. This past week Frank Wynne, chair of the 2022 International Booker Prize, called for publishers around the world to not only recognize the work of translators with full book cover credit,… Continue reading

  • Horror: What We Bring Back From the Woods

    I love the way horror novels are often tied to a specific, vividly rendered place: a scary house, a sinister hospital, a remote stretch of woods. Today I’m drilling down on that last one, with a few horror novels where characters bring something unexpected back from their wilderness adventures. These novels also share a focus… Continue reading

  • Reading Ukraine: History, Memoir and Literature

    Whenever conflicts erupt on the world stage, we can count on our patrons to head to their local library to find out more. When it comes to the current conflict in Ukraine, whether you prefer the objectivity of history and political analysis, the more subjective personal experiences of those involved, or the imaginative capacity of… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup – March 2022

    March delivers a Dolly Parton/James Patterson collaboration, a deep dive into the family behind John Wilkes Booth by Karen Joy Fowler, a standalone by science fiction master John Scalzi, and much more. 3/1: The Night Shift by Alex Finlay In 1999, four teen girls working at a Blockbuster Video are attacked and only one survives;… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup – February 2022

    What will you read this month? 2/1: Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson Estranged siblings must come together when their mother dies and leaves them an unexpected inheritance: the recipe for a traditional Caribbean black cake, a family recipe with a long, tangled history, and an exhortation to “share the black cake when the time is… Continue reading

  • The Best in Genre Fiction: 2021

    This January, groups of librarians from across the country met up virtually to hash out what they think were the best books published last year. The Notable Books List features literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; the Listen List is all about outstanding audiobooks; and The Reading List, which I want to tell you about today, highlights outstanding genre fiction… Continue reading

  • What we read in 2021: The Seattle Public Library’s most popular novels of the year

    Curious about the books that Seattle’s readers turned to in 2021? Or perhaps you’re building your booklist for 2022 and want to be inspired by others’ top picks? The Library just released a list of most popular checkouts from last year, including e-books and physical books. Fittingly, the most popular book checked out last was… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup – January 2022

    Let’s kick off the reading year! January brings us compelling tales of friendship, pulse-pounding thrillers, deep dives into historical eras both real and imagined, and much more. 1/4: Anthem by Noah Hawley In this sprawling near-future thriller, a group of teenagers break out of an anxiety rehab center determined to bring down an evil billionaire,… Continue reading

  • A Peek at Peak Picks for January 2022

    We’re starting 2022 with eight new Peak Picks. ​Fiction features three debuts: A neurodivergent protagonist is at the center of the locked-room mystery The Maid by Nita Prose; the lives of four millennials are told in vignettes in Daphne Palasi Andreades’ Brown Girls; and Puerto Rican siblings cope with family baggage in Olga Dies Dreaming… Continue reading

  • New to Always Available Audio

    The library has added more than 40 new audiobooks to our collection of Always Available titles. We’ve highlighted some below, but be sure to check out the latest additions to the collection! Nonfiction.In 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think, Brianna Wiest presents short but provocative essays that guide readers towards seeking wisdom… Continue reading

  • Staff Faves 2021: Graphic Novels

    It seems like both the quantity and quality of graphic novels and graphic nonfiction just keeps increasing every year.  This is great news for readers but it can feel a bit overwhelming when trying to find your next great graphic read. Luckily, our librarians read hundred of titles this year did a fantastic job sorting… Continue reading

  • Seattle Staff Faves 2021: Fiction

    We asked staff across the system to tell us their favorite novels published in 2021, and what a list we made together! Here are 10 of the 53 books recommended by your library staff, along with a link to the full list for your reading pleasure. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers “Hugo… Continue reading

  • Go for Baroque

    I’ve long been a fan of realistic, character-driven fiction that focus on the interpersonal relations between couples, siblings, and parents and children. Lately, I’ve been drawn to fiction of a different sort – where strongly developed characters are thrust in over-the-top situations that border on the grotesque. With these three novels from 2021, you can… Continue reading

  • New Fiction Roundup – December 2021

    The year may be almost over, but the good books keep on coming! Finish your reading year with one (or more) of these interesting reads. 12/1: I’m Not Hungry But I Could Eat by Christopher Gonzalez A collection of 15 short stories about hunger and cravings – in all their forms – featuring bisexual and… Continue reading

  • Library Explainer: Why We Float Collections

    Did you know that some of the Library’s collections are floating again? Or that our floating collections save time and money, decrease hold times and expand the diversity of materials at a branch? In library terms, “floating” means that certain Library collections – such as mysteries, DVDs and children’s comics — stay at the Library… Continue reading

  • You’re On a Train

    A train is a great setting for a novel because it inherently heightens the tension and conflict – the characters are all trapped together, with a limited number of chances (station stops) to leave. Enjoy this handful of books set on trains. Continue reading