Nonfiction
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Flower on the Cover or In the Title
Hopefully you won’t have a hard time finding a flower on the cover of a book! However, if you would like some suggestions for this summer’s Book Bingo, we rounded up some titles. Here’s a variety to interest you, from non-fiction to fantasy. First up is Marigold Mind Laundry by Jungeun Yun, translated by Shanna… Continue reading
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Hope
Besides being the Thing with Feathers, what is hope? How do we hold onto it and why? And if we have it, what do we do with it (or, what does it do for us)? The answers to these questions may be different for each person, but here are some reading suggestions to help fill… Continue reading
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Celebrate Pride With Four Books of Queer Joy and Resistance
Pride month in Seattle is both a celebration and a call to action — a time to reflect on the legacy of queer and transgender people and how we can continue to fight for a more just, inclusive future. This month, the library and Charlie Hunts, owner of Charlie’s Queer Books in Fremont, are sharing books that… Continue reading
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New Nonfiction Roundup – June 2025
Welcome to June! In addition to this month’s Peak Picks, June is abundant with books in the entertainment industry, along with a mix of the latest in memoir, self-care, and history. In music, Jonathan Gould takes a look at Talking Heads and the New York scene that transformed rock in Burning Down the House, while… Continue reading
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Super Summer Reading Series with KUOW: 3 Books, 3 Authors, 3 Events
Seattle summer reading just got better! This summer, the KUOW Book Club and the Library invite you to join a book club adventure featuring three books by local authors. Each month, read along with the KUOW Book Club’s selection, and then bring your friends (and your questions) to an event at the Central Library that… Continue reading
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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