Nonfiction

  • Summer Reads: Wallingford and Ballard readers offer suggestions

    How do you find what to read next? Most of us count on personal recommendations from friends and neighbors (and, of course, librarians!). As part of the Adult Summer Reading Program, readers throughout Seattle are writing super short “reviews” of what they’ve been reading. Readers in Wallingford recommend: The Sanctuary Sparrow by Ellis Peters A Brother… Continue reading

  • Knitting

    In 1917, the West Seattle Branch of the Seattle Public Library had a Knitting Club, to help in the War effort. Girls would meet once per week, and while one of their members read out loud, they would knit socks and ambulance pillows out of sturdy wool. A Red Cross volunteer handed out the yarn,… Continue reading

  • After a bike ride, read a book about bicycles

    Bicycles are magical.  Learning to ride one is a rite of passage. The bicycle wobbles between the thighs – yet stays upright. Suddenly, the world extends from the yard to the block, from the neighborhood to the city, and beyond. This skill, once mastered, becomes intimately connected to memory, to knowledge.  It’s like riding a… Continue reading

  • The Decoration of Houses

    Here are some interesting books about interior design, plus some about unusual buildings: The Elements of Style: an Encyclopedia of Domestic Architectural Detail (edited by Stephen Calloway) For anyone who wants to restore their historic house, or for anyone interested in the history of house styles, this beautiful book is a goldmine of information and… Continue reading

  • Buildings and Cities

    The Seattle Public Library has a large and varied collection of books about architecture and city planning. Here are a few that I find interesting and useful. I hope you enjoy them too. The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs’ classic ground-breaking attack on the planning of American cities,… Continue reading

  • Metro Reads 2: What are you reading on the bus?

    Do you notice what people are reading? At a coffee shop? At the dentist’s office? On the bus? We notice — and not just because we work at a library. Sometimes we notice because we want a good book to read; sometimes we get excited because we read and loved that same book. Most of… Continue reading

  • Tomatoes – are they safe?

    And what about lettuce? avocados? cantaloupe? Here are some links to university and government research with updates on how to be sure the fresh produce you bring home is safe to eat as well as nutritionally sound and just plain delicious. Salmonellosis Outbreak in Certain Types of Tomatoes by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.  The FDA… Continue reading

  • Shakespeare Lives!

    It is easy to take Will Shakespeare for granted.  So established is he in the cultural and academic pantheons that even the frequent attempts to update or “jazz up” the plays feel time-honored and traditional.  Two recent movies provide a nice antidote to the standard bardolatry, reminding us just why he is truly immortal. Hank Rogerson’s Shakespeare Behind Bars observes a troupe of… Continue reading

  • Can you name this monster?

    Recently we hosted a Beholder statue from Dungeons & Dragons outside the Central Library’s 4th Avenue entrance.  My brain had been blocked with a confusion spell so I had to look up the name of the monster on the Wizards of the Coast site where I found this news item about filming a commercial in Seattle. Did you… Continue reading

  • Fun with Physics

    I wonder how many readers are alive to the fun of physics? Nuclear and quantum physics especially seem so intimidating, but they have stimulated remarkable works of whimsy and creativity, well worth a look— Among the first is George Gamow’s Mr. Tompkins series, originally published before the second world war, and now available in paperback… Continue reading

  • Time Travelers or Of Slavery, Then and Now

    You’re sitting on a plane and, unbeknownst to you, an age-old dilemma is being replayed. There are no chains. There is no auction block, but your seatmate is enslaved. Sound farfetched? It isn’t; slavery persists in the 21st century. It is a global phenomenon and is harder to recognize and, therefore, more difficult to address.… Continue reading

  • All Robbins all evening: a Pacific Northwest Ballet Preview

    Discover the artistry of choreographer Jerome Robbins at a lecture and video preview of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s program, All Robbins. All Robbins includes three ballets: Fancy Free, In the Night and The Concert (or, The Perils of Everybody) with music by Leonard Bernstein and Chopin. Doug Fullington, Educational Programs Manager at PNB will discuss the… Continue reading

  • Found in the stacks: Women who boat & cook!

    Wandering through the closed stacks at Central, I stumbled across a classic in the maritime genre – a book that could be considered timeless: The Woman’s Guide to Boating & Cooking! Let’s dive deep into the wonderful world of yachting courtesy of Lael Morgan:  A recipe for Rock Lobster-Langouste begins:                “ Kill Lobster “                        … Continue reading

  • Books for new moms

    New moms barely have time to bathe or eat. How could they possibly have time to read?! They make the time, that’s how — during their children’s naps, while nursing or as they wait in line at the doctor’s or the grocery store. Reading other moms’ stories, whether fact or fiction, can ease the isolation… Continue reading

  • Expecting Adam by Martha Beck

    Is it possible that the true account of two Harvard academicians parenting a Downs Syndrome child could be funny? How about hysterically funny? Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic by Martha Beck is a charming mixture of sophisticated humor, satire (mostly targeted at Harvard), self deprecation and spirituality including visions and out… Continue reading

  • Unleash your inner librarian!

    What are the odds? The brand spanking new Library of Congress subject heading for “Public Libraries – California – anecdotes’” is getting quite a workout. In the past six months we have seen the publication of two humorous memoirs by librarians in the Los Angeles area: Don Borchert’s Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas… Continue reading

  • Metro Reads: Books spotted on local buses

    We’re always interested in what people are reading: We’re the ones on buses craning our necks to get a look at book titles and authors. Perhaps you’re the one maneuvering the book cover at the perfect covert angle to make us really work for our noseyness. Or perhaps, like us, you also notice what others… Continue reading

  • Row, Row, Row Your Boat

    Seattle considers itself the boating capital of the world. And it should be, with 200 miles of shoreline on Puget Sound, Lake Washington, Lake Union and Green Lake. If you need proof, come to the Opening Day of Boating Season on Saturday, May 3rd. An annual tradition since 1920, the festival is sponsored by the… Continue reading