Fiction
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‘The Help’ reaches its tipping point
There’s a lot to love about summer reading when you work in a library, but the best part is when people stop by to tell you what they’ve been reading. And that’s how, early in June, I found one of my favorite books of the past several years: The Help by Kathryn Stockett. In this… Continue reading
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More Summer Staff Favorites for Children: Historical Fiction
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, by Kristin Levine J LEVINE Prepare to fall in love with the narrator of this story! Dit tells the tale of a memorable year in tiny Moundville, Alabama, during World War I, the year he meets and befriends Emma. Dit provokes a blatantly racist sheriff to shoot at… Continue reading
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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
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Summer Reading: A few favorites from Montlake
Books pictured here include: Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman Two Rivers by T. Greenwood The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay Two… Continue reading
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More Summer Staff Favorites for Children: Fantasy Chapter Books
Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep by Eleanor Farjeon J FARJEON Elsie Piddock was a born skipper from the age of three and, by the time she was seven, the fairies had heard of her. They taught her the most fantastical skips anyone ever saw. As Elsie grows older, her skipping is almost forgotten, becoming… Continue reading
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Staff Favorites: Summer reads . . .
Ahhh … summer reading in Seattle. Whether you’re bringing a book to the beach or packing one (or four) for vacation, our staff has some recommendations for you. And perhaps while you’re at the Library you’d like to log your books read in our Adult Summer Reading notebook? All you need to do is write… Continue reading
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Book review: Fool by Christopher Moore
If you are in the mood to read something extremely, embarrassingly funny, you might pick up a copy of Fool, the latest book by Christopher Moore. On the surface this novel is a retelling of Shakespeare’s King Lear told from the perspective of Pocket, the King’s fool. Any accuracy or comparison to the original story… Continue reading
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Great Fantasy Audiobooks for the Road
Parents everywhere are looking for solutions to their annual summer dilemma… “How do we find audiobooks that the entire family – adults included – can enjoy for that long car/airplane/boat trip?” Here are a few suggestions that are guaranteed to entertain: The Amulet of Samarkand, by Johnathan Stroud Read by Simon Jones CDJ St892A Nathaniel,… Continue reading
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Books for Tour de France followers
Written from the perspective of a participant, The Rider by Tim Krabbe takes the reader into the heart of a 150-kilometer bicycle race. Krabbe does an amazing job of containing the strategy, thrills, motivation and accumulated folk history of bicycle enthusiasts in a scant 150 pages. The reader will feel the burning of over-burdened muscles,… Continue reading
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Rereading a favorite book
Recently my book group read Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo, a book I had savored more than a year ago. But a year later, with the complications of aging and excess information crowding my brain, I had almost completely forgotten the novel. What I did remember was my reaction to Bridge of Sighs — joy… Continue reading
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Always a bridesmaid …
Nancy Pearl, bless her, tells us never to apologize for our reading tastes. I hope her advice extends to TV: I am an addict of the reality series The Bachelorette (and The Bachelor). I get a lot of teasing for this, and you are welcome to chime in! I don’t know why I find them… Continue reading
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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
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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
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Staff Favorites: Three more novels for your summer reading . . .
Rex Libris: I, Librarian by James Turner Rex Libris, Head Librarian at Middleton Public Library, takes his place along other great librarian action adventure heroes like Nancy Pearl and Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though he may look the part of a nerdy, mild mannered librarian with his suit and tie and thick glasses,… Continue reading
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Staff Favorites: Summer reading ideas
The Book of Fred by Abby Bardi Not an average teenager, Mary Fred Anderson has never watched television, eaten meat or read anything other than The Book of Fred. This is the story of what happens when she is placed in a suburban foster family headed by an unhappily divorced librarian mom, her unemployed brother… Continue reading
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If you like Lee Child and his ‘Jack Reacher’ novels …
Jack Reacher, a consummate loner and star of Lee Child’s novels, is a thinking person’s action hero. Intelligent, witty and unencumbered by possessions, Reacher drifts into a new town and meets injustice head on. He’s equal measure Dirty Harry and James Bond, always outwitting his opponents. Child’s swift, cinematic thrillers continue to be among the… Continue reading
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Retelling timeless tales
Did you know that there is a series of amazing books which are retellings of mythical tales, each by a famous author? I didn’t either! But I came across the “Myth Series” while looking for something else, and was blown away. The story of Penelope by Margaret Atwood? The story of Atlas and Heracles by… Continue reading
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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