guest blogger
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YA author Martha Brockenbrough picks 5 books to give teens this year
Looking for ideas for books to give teen readers in your life? We think Devine Intervention by Seattle author Martha Brockenbrough makes an ideal gift. An L.A. Times review compared it to Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens; others have said Brockenbrough is a good match for readers who like John Green. But what else would make a good… Continue reading
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Jack Nisbet on Vasily Grossman’s Volga.
Today’s post is by naturalist and author Jack Nisbet, whose latest book is David Douglas, A Naturalist at Work: An Illustrated Exploration Across Two Centuries in the Pacific Northwest. Nisbet, a Spokane resident and winner of the Washington State Book Award, will be appearing at the Central Library on Tuesday, November 13. The Volga is the great river of… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Novelist Kim Fay shares her favorites
Seattle native Kim Fay’s debut novel The Map of Lost Memories has been wowing the critics: Publisher’s Weekly called it “…intricate page-turner that will keep readers breathless and guessing,” while Booklist raved “Every word of this evocative literary expedition feels deliberately chosen, each phrase full of meaning.” Fay shared with us some of her favorite titles. Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Seattle author Mary Jane Beaufrand on Ivan the gorilla
We asked Seattle author Mary Jane Beaufrand, author of the young adult mystery Dark River (a finalist for the Edgar award for best mystery) to tell us about notable books she’d recently read. She submitted this blog post before the sad news that Ivan the gorilla died in Atlanta on August 21. Take a look at what… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Seattle novelist Laurie Frankel shares her summer reading
“Frankel is an author to watch …” says Library Journal. And we’ve been enthusiastically watching her (and reading her books!) since her debut two years ago. Today marks the release of her second novel, Goodbye for Now. We asked Laurie, who guest blogged for us when The Atlas of Love came out, to tell us what she’s… Continue reading
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Infinity Crisis
Author Kate Wilhelm is in town, and will be appearing at the Central Library this Friday, June 29 on her way to the opening night of a new play based on her work, produced byThe Infinty Box Theatre Project. Artistic Director David Mills tells us about it: What happens when what you watch becomes what… Continue reading
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Seattle Reads Author Amy Waldman Reflects on Her Recent Experiences at Seattle Public Library Readings
Author Amy Waldman recently appeared at several Seattle Public Library locations to talk with audiences about her novel, The Submission, this year’s Seattle Reads selection. The book describes the events following a jury’s blind selection of a ground zero memorial, designed by a Muslim-American architect. Here are her reflections on talking with Seattle readers about the book. One of the primary goals of… Continue reading
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Cooking the Northwest: Jess Thomson’s Favorite Local Cookbooks.
Jess Thomson’s latest cookbook, Pike Place Market Recipes: 130 Ways to Take Home Seattle’s Famous Market, was released this week. We asked Thomson to comb through her cookbook library for a selection of her favorite local authors. If there’s one book I want to carry with me at all times when I shop, it’s Edible… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Novelist Jim Lynch shares books that made a difference.
If you’re like us, one of the first things you start looking over when you visit someone’s house is their books. Local author Jim Lynch obliges us with a peek at his own bookcase of favorites. Lynch is the celebrated author of two acclaimed novels, The Highest Tide (winner of the 2006 Pacific Northwest Bookseller Award) and Border Songs (now in production… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Dana Stabenow
Alaksa native Dana Stabenow is the author of two popular crime series set in her home state: nearly a score of titles featuring kickass Aleut private eye Kate Shugak, and a quartet of titles centering on straight-shooting state trooper Liam Campbell. The pair finally meet in Stabenow’s newest title, Restless in the Grave, released on Valentine’s Day.… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Novelist Matt Ruff shares what he’s reading
Local author Matt Ruff’s newest novel, The Mirage, comes out tomorrow. Ruff, whose other novels include Bad Monkeys and Set This House in Order (both winners of Washington State Book Awards), among others, will read on Saturday, February 11, at 1 p.m. at the Ballard Branch. We are excited that he’s our guest blogger for… Continue reading
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How do I love the Seattle Public Library? Let me count the ways.
Today’s guest blogger is Diana E. James, author of the newly published Shared Walls: Seattle Apartment Buildings, 1900-1939 (and co-author of one of our library’s own talented teen librarians). How do I love Seattle Public Library? Let me count the ways. Where else would a staff-person patiently sift through a drawer of maps until the perfect one… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Stewart O’Nan shares his reading list
A review in the Washington Post of The Odds started with this: “Stewart O’Nan seems incapable of writing a false line” and later said “O’Nan is an author you learn to trust, no matter what he’s writing about.” Many of our librarians and readers feel the exact same way, and that’s why we’re thrilled to have… Continue reading
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Novelist Adam Johnson’s insights into North Korea
Editor’s note: We are thrilled to have Adam Johnson here today talking about books about North Korea and one of his research trips for his novel The Orphan Master’s Son. I must admit that I’m a huge fan of The Seattle Public Library—its yellow tubes and downhill stacks, the way rain sheets off the glass… Continue reading
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Book review: I Am Not a Serial Killer
I’m not a big reader. I like books, but I simply don’t have the attention span to sit down for hours at a time, plowing through hundreds of pages, when I could be baking, sewing, or casually surfing the internet. However, I recently read a book so exciting and suspenseful that I not only read… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Turning the Pages with Kathy Casey
by Kathy Casey Time-worn. Yellowed. Dog-eared. Marked-up. To some, these words might describe relics to be brushed aside as part of the past. To me, they are the qualities I love most about my cookbook collection. I’m not a “cookbook preserver”; the more splatters and spills and notes left in the margins, the more loved… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Karen Gaudette
As a writer, food lover and former reporter, I look to cookbooks as entry points to a variety of cultures and eras. Ever wonder why Southern cookbooks devote so many pages to dessert? One trip to my husband’s grandmother’s church social in middle Tennessee, with its bountiful tables of cakes and pies, neatly answered that… Continue reading
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Nightstand Reads: Matthew Amster-Burton
When I’m sick, sad, or don’t know what to eat for lunch, I always turn to Asian food for comfort. Usually it’s some kind of spicy noodles, like pad Thai or the Tetsu Hell Fire dipping ramen at Samurai noodle, a dish you can’t eat without looking like a barbarian. Similarly, when I wander into… Continue reading