adult summer reading
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Humor
Knock knock? Who’s there? No, Who’s on first… That was either met with crickets, a chuckle, or an eyeroll, which drives home that not everyone’s sense of humor is the same. There is something for everyone, and, notwithstanding the above attempt, the written word can be hilarious. Absurd situations, witty turns of phrase, wry retorts—all… Continue reading
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Disability
One of the joys of Book Bingo is expanding reading beyond what you might ordinarily pick up, and hopefully discovering what Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop termed “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors:” books that offer both opportunities for self-affirmation and insight into the experiences of those different from us. Within the Disability category, there is… Continue reading
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Book Bingo NW 2025: Great Escapes
Perhaps more than any other Book Bingo category this year, Great Escapes invites personal taste and creativity into the conversation. A guidebook to somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit? A portal to a world you wish you could escape to? A memoir of around-the-world travel? A gripping thriller or sigh-worthy romance that gives you an… Continue reading
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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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Book Bingo NW 2025: Dystopia
Whether offering hope in the dark or a warning about that which may well come to pass, dystopia challenges us to examine not only where we’re headed, but just as often where we already are; it allows us to bravely think and feel through anxieties of the present mapped onto nebulous future-spaces. While the future… 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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Recent and upcoming Book-to-Screen Adaptations
It’s easy to wonder sometimes if there are any new ideas in Hollywood, as so many movies and TV series are adapted from books, plays, comics, etc. But the best adaptations make the original content feel fresh and new, drawing audiences back to the source material. Continuing our tradition of books-to-screen posts, here are some… Continue reading
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Finish your #BookBingoNW2021 card with some Peak Picks
Need to fill a couple of spots on your Book Bingo card, and looking to get a book quickly? The Peak Picks display at your Library may have just what you need to get at least one bingo line or, perhaps, an entire blackout. Although we think all Peak Picks should be on a reading list,… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021: Mystery and Crime under 250 pages
As Summer Book Bingo 2021 comes down to the wire (deadline: Sept. 7), you may be looking to maximize your remaining reading time. To that end, here are a selection of mysteries that clock in under 250 pages, for rapid reading. Feeling more leisurely? Check out our longer list of suggested mystery/crime novels. Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021 Sports
Still struggling to find the right book for your Sports Book Bingo square? Never fear, your intrepid Seattle Public Library sports librarian has some suggestions for you, whether you’re a diehard sports writing fan, or have never picked up a book about sports before in your life. Confession time: despite serving as the Library’s sports… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021 BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color) Food Writing
Need a suggestion for your BIPOC Food Writing Book Bingo square? Expand your reading (and eating) palette with these tasty, filling and thoroughly engrossing memoirs and cookbooks!* Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner Noted indie rock musician Zauner (Japanese Breakfast) has penned a heartfelt and captivating memoir about growing up Asian American in a predominantly… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021 Cli-fi or Environmental Non-fiction
The Cli-fi/Environmental Non-Fiction square offers lots of good reading options! From visions of how the world might look after a climate apocalypse, to intensely personal stories of connection with the land; from accounts of how we got to this point in time, to examinations of the intersection of capitalism and climate; and much more. Check… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021 Black Joy
A short list of good reads that can be applied to the Black Joy 2021 Book Bingo square. These are funny, romantic stories that follow Black characters whose best lives find them. Girl Gurl Grrrl: On womanhood and belonging in the age of Black girl magic by Kenya Hunt, deputy editor of the fashion magazine… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021 Coming of Age
Looking to fill your book bingo Coming of Age square? Check out one of these titles, in which characters confront confusing situations and pursue big dreams as they enter adulthood. White Ivy by Susie Yang As a teenager, Chinese-American Ivy is caught between the disapproval and harsh parenting style of her parents, and the love… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021 Beach Read
Fellow readers, let’s talk beach reads. Don’t be put off by the name – these can be read at the beach, sure, but also by a lake; in a park or on your lawn; on your couch – anywhere you’re taking some time for yourself. And any book can be a beach read*, so long… Continue reading
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#BookBingoNW2021 Small Press
Those who follow the literary world know the agglomeration of mega-publishers that was once termed the “big six” long ago became the “big five,” and through yet another merger/acquisition will soon become the “big four.” It seems just a matter of time before we’re talking about the “big one.” Fortunately, there are many many small… Continue reading
