Nonfiction

  • Summer Reads: Ballard, Broadview, Mobile and University reader suggestions

    Looking for a book for these last few weeks of summer? Here are 12 suggestions from Library users from Mobile Services and the Ballard, Broadview and University branches: Mobile Services’ readers suggest: Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton He tells all of us how we can really help save the world by… Continue reading

  • 2008: Year of the Frog

    Did you know that 2008 is the Year of the Frog?  The year has been deemed so by Amphibian Ark, a worldwide collaborative program of environmental agencies.  It’s about time frogs got their spotlight and respect!  I must confess to a lifelong fondness for frogs, so I am delighted to share my appreciation of these… Continue reading

  • Countdown to the thrill of victory …

    The summer Olympics in Beijing are just three days away, and the buzz has been steady for weeks. You may have heard the awe-inspiring story of swimmer Dara Torres, who at 41 will be the “first American swimmer to compete in five Olympics and the oldest female swimmer in the history of the Games, according… Continue reading

  • Tour d’Amsterdam, part 2

    In my previous blog entry, Tour de Amsterdam, I mentioned rules learned the hard way while riding a bike in downtown Amsterdam. Recall that biking is a mode of transportation and not the competitive leisure sport as viewed by most Seattlites. The topography of Amsterdam is wonderfully flat! Riding for hours is possible with perhaps… Continue reading

  • You Must Learn: A Hip-Hop Education with Black Star

    Among hip-hop fans, the group Black Star is known for its lyrical muscle and strong literary-bent. Members Mos Def and Talib Kweli pack their tightly crafted rhymes with intelligence and wit that seems lacking in much of contemporary hip-hop. Their 1998 album, Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star  was a welcome return to… Continue reading

  • Seafair means Pirates

    Ahoy mates! Shiver me timbers and all that pirate talk.  It’s Seafair in Seattle and for many folks that means the Pirates are in town.  With their booming cannon and boisterous pranks the Seafair Pirates give the kids of Seattle a delicious shiver and scary dreams.  Watching the Pirates kidnap shrieking kids and drag their swords… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: High Point, Capitol Hill and Montlake readers offer their suggestions.

    This week we find journeys through space, time and the inner mind, in our ongong series that highlights what Seattlites are reading this Summer. We’d love to hear what you’re reading, too! Sign up for the Adult Summer Reading Program and share your recommendations with other book lovers around town. Readers on Capitol Hill recommend: After Dark… Continue reading

  • More Librarians in Fact & Fiction

    Sensible shoes.  Hair in a bun.  Glasses perched on the tip of a nose.  Tweed suits.  Do you recognize the occupation?  Shhhhh!  Whisper the answer!  You’re in the library!  Yes, librarians have been battling this stereotype for years.  Thankfully, books are helping us change our image. While some books work subtly to show librarians in… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Delridge, Madrona and South Park readers share a few suggestions

    Espionage, werewolves, Ivy League and the Ivory Coast — aaah, summer reading! Take a look at the varied reading happening around town, with a sampling of titles recommended by Seattle readers. We’d love to hear what you’re reading, too! Sign up for the Adult Summer Reading Program and share your recommendations with other book lovers around… Continue reading

  • Seattle’s vibrant early music scene

    In recent years, Seattle has become a mecca for early music, the world of music created from its earliest beginnings to about the year 1750. World-class performers such as Stephen Stubbs have moved here to join long-time Seattleites Margriet Tindemans and Nancy Zylstra. It means that there are some thrilling opportunities for exploration of the world… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Green Lake and International District reader suggestions

    Want to share what you’re reading? Enter the Adult Summer Reading Program at any branch (or downtown at the Central Library), write one or two sentences about three books you’ve read. You’ll be entered in a weekly drawing to win a book bag (one winner per week at each location; lots of chances to win!).… Continue reading

  • Housekeeping

    Have you ever lost yourself in the library? Have you ever felt curious about something, looked up a book on that topic, which led to another and another, and then you went to the shelves and found not only the books you were looking for, but something else fascinating and unexpected? Part of the fun of… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: West Seattle and Southwest reader suggestions

    In Seattle, the term “beach reads” is generally used figuratively (if not a little wistfully) for books more generally read on decks, in parks, on busses, but not on our pebbled shores. In West Seattle, however, beach reading actually happens on a beach! Here is some of what readers at our West Seattle and Southwest branches… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: May we recommend…

    Dishwasher: One Man’s Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States by Pete Jordan  If you have ever worked in a restaurant, you will relate to this book. Jordan retells stories of working all over the United States washing dishes. He works everywhere from a fish cannery in Alaska to an oil rig off the… Continue reading

  • Tour de Amsterdam: Biking as a Tourist

    Biking in Amsterdam is an experience that can be enjoyed by even novice cyclists. On almost all streets and roads, cyclists enjoy an exclusive wide path separated from motor vehicle traffic by a strip of ground, a ditch or high curb. Riders have the right of way over pedestrians (a practice that takes time getting used… Continue reading

  • Read & Listen: White Bicycles

    The first in an occasional series in which we pair reviews of music criticism/history books with a list of accompanying albums for your reading and listening pleasure. READ: Walking off the baseball field of his Connecticut prep school one evening in the late 1950s, Joe Boyd heard the strains of the most recent Fats Domino… Continue reading

  • Baseball with the Seattle Pilots

    This challenging season for local baseball fans brings to mind another last place team in our fair city, the famous and short-lived Seattle Pilots of 1969. An expansion team in the American League, they played at Sicks’ Stadium, a converted minor league ballpark. In their one year here they launched Jim Bouton’s literary career through… Continue reading

  • Summer Reads: Fremont and Queen Anne reader suggestions

    Want to share what you’re reading? Enter the Adult Summer Reading Program at any branch (or downtown at the Central Library), write one or two sentences about three books you’ve read. You’ll be entered in a weekly drawing to win a book bag (one winner per week at each location; lots of chances to win!).… Continue reading