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Books to Help You Start (and Finish!) Writing Your Novel
Have you always wanted to write a novel? Or are you feeling stuck with your current draft? Wherever you are in your writing project, the library carries many books that can help with inspiration and next steps. Here are some that I have found to be especially useful: For Getting Inspired: 1,000 Words by Jami… Continue reading
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New Fiction Roundup, March 2026
There’s plenty of new fiction to be excited about in March, from haunted houses to family sagas and a vengeful Anne Boleyn, from local authors (Kim Fu) to returning favorites (Louise Erdrich, Yann Martel), and much more! 3/3: Lake Effect by Cynthia D’Aprix SweeneyIn a sleepy 1977 Rochester neighborhood, a copy of The Joy of… Continue reading
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A Peek at Peak Picks – March 2026
We’re adding twelve new Peak Picks in March! In fiction, Maria Adelmann’s newest novel follows an adjunct professor gigging her way through academia’s poor job market when she crosses paths with her old PhD adviser whose new novel might be about her in The Adjunct; the latest from Elizabeth Berg, Life: A Love Story, is a warm, intimate novel… Continue reading
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Cozy Survival: Making a Home in the Wilds
Lately, I’ve been running across books that instruct by example how to eke out survival while making a comfortable home. Cozy survival, if you will. In January, my apartment had a gas leak that caused a lapse in hot water and heating. Winter suddenly became very wintry. Luckily, I felt more prepared to weather the… Continue reading
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Whoa, It’s Lunar New Year: Cook Your Way Through the Year of the Horse
Happy Lunar New Year! February 17th marks the start of the Year of the Horse and kicks off dayslong festivities in different communities. Everyone has their own cultural and familial traditions when it comes to celebrating this time of year, and what better way to celebrate anything than with food? During Lunar New Year, many… Continue reading
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New Nonfiction Roundup – February 2026
America celebrates its 250th anniversary this year, and the first of many books about our nation’s history are being released this month. Acclaimed historian Jon Meacham unites centuries of essential American voices to understand our national debates and divisions in American Struggle while CBS News’s senior correspondent Norah Jones paints a vivid portrait the hidden… Continue reading
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Exploring the Library’s Photography Books
I love reading photography books. Flipping through their pages brings a much-needed sense of creativity and inspiration, while also providing a window into history, community, and the world around us. Here are some that I have enjoyed recently: Pilgrimage Annie Leibovitz travels to locations that hold meaning for her, including Emily Dickinson’s house in Amherst,… Continue reading
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A Peek at Peak Picks – February 2026
We’re adding ten Peak Picks in February! In fiction, Jonathan Miles (“a writer so virtuosic that readers will feel themselves becoming better, more observant people from reading him”– Los Angeles Times) delivers a blackly comic literary gem in which a broken man confronts a broken world on an uninhabited Pacific island in Eradication; Jasmin Kirkbridge debuts with a… Continue reading
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Series Highlight: Black Dawn from AK Press
Science and Speculative Fiction has long been a way to explore other ways of existence, as well as a way to think about current moments through alternative lenses. In 2021 AK press, a worker-run, collectively managed anarchist small press that aims to “expand minds and change worlds,” launched Black Dawn, a series of speculative fiction… Continue reading
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New Nonfiction Roundup – January 2026
It’s a new year, and a time for reinvention. In addition to a host of “new year, new you” self improvement books, January has plenty of histories, memoir and other noteworthy nonfiction to consider. Take the next step in the Love Language revolution and discover how to personalize love so you really feel it in The… Continue reading
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A Peek at Peak Picks – January 2026
We’re adding ten new books to Peak Picks in January! In fiction, Gabriel Tallent’s sophomore novel tells a story of intense friendship and grit, following two down-and-out teens who escape their lives and chase a different future through rock-climbing in Crux; Rosie Storey debuts with a modern love story about a woman who leads… Continue reading
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What Seattle Read in 2025: The Library’s Most Popular Checkouts
It’s always fascinating to compile The Seattle Public Library’s top checkouts for the year to get a sense of what’s been on the minds of Seattle’s readers. In 2025, they turned closer to home and explored local voices — perhaps not surprising given the state of national dialogue. Several of our most checked-out print books… Continue reading
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2025 Staff Faves: Adult Fiction
Each year we ask our staff across the library for their favorite books published in the current year. Below you will find some of the fiction books that stood out to library staff in 2025. Find the full list of staff faves in our catalog: Seattle Staff Faves 2025: Fiction, Part 1 and Seattle Staff… Continue reading
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2025 Staff Faves: Picture Books
As the year draws to a close, we enjoy asking staff from across the library system to share their favorite Kids books of the year. From picture books to chapter books, and from graphic novels to nonfiction – below are just a few of the Kids books published in 2025 that our SPL staff loved! … Continue reading
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2025 Staff Faves: Teen Books
Every year, we ask staff members around the library system what their favorite reads published this year were. 2025 is no different, and we have a stellar lineup of fiction and graphic novels. Graphic novels first: Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi began in 2024, but volumes 3 through 5 were published this year. The… Continue reading
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The Year’s “Best Of:” for Both the Dilettante and the Obsessive
Do you have a stack of magazines waiting to be read? Are bookmarked articles haunting you? Do you wish someone would just tell you the best ones that you should definitely read? Well you’re in luck – this is your reminder to explore the best in essays, articles, and short stories with annual compilations. Put… Continue reading
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5 Fiction and Nonfiction Books that Dive Into AI
If representations of AI in fiction are starting to feel eerily plausible to you, you’re not alone! AI suddenly seems to be everywhere — in your phone, in your browser, offering tech support and an uncanny form of virtual friendship. How did this happen, where is it headed and what will it mean for humanity?… Continue reading
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Indigenous Stories for Teens
November is National Native American Heritage Month, and one way we celebrate is through the sharing of stories by and about Native Americans. Whether or not you are Native American, these new titles for teens make for fantastic stories. Gary Robinson’s book Billy Buckhorn and the Book of Spells launches a series about a Cherokee… Continue reading