Kara P.

  • Ideas for Book Giving this Holiday

    Librarians give – and get – a lot of books this time of year. Seeing that familiar shape surrounded by festive wrapping is a special thrill. Sure, we know it is a book, but what book? We recently shared some ideas on how to choose good books for your loved ones. Now here are some… Continue reading

  • Burlesque 101

    Join us November 18th at Timbre Room, 7-8:30pm, for Carnal Knowledge, a burlesque show designed to educate and entertain. Performances featuring Miss Kitty Baby, The Marquis Façade, Mx. Pucks A’Plenty and more! Hosted by Donatella Howe this show will explore the forms and functions of the art and the local history of burlesque. This event is 21+.… Continue reading

  • A Little Life, A Little Home, A Little Break

    In December I got engaged and bought a house with my fiancé and my mind has been abuzz with all the planning and decorating and, honestly, “grownup-ness.” I thought I would use inspiration from that to kick off the new year with a blog post and to also take a break from Shelftalk to focus… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for December

    The Library of Unrequited Love by Sophie Divry. A librarian finds a man asleep in the basement near the section she is in charge of. Before the door opens to the public she decides to take that time to tell him her life of working at the library, along with the history of libraries, its… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for November

    The Regional Office is Under Attack by Manuel Gonzales. First off swearing and lots of it, which I love because for some reason it makes me giggle over and over and over again. But secondly, great female leads, which I also love because woman are amazing and have far more depth then often portrayed. We… Continue reading

  • Novembeard

    It’s November! And if the beard hasn’t made it’s presence known yet, it will this month! Between No Shave November bringing awareness to prostate cancer and the winter chill filling the air; the hair will grow!! And because we are nerds here are a few books to get you inspired: Beard by Matthew Rainwaters. I… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for October

    The Well by Catherine Chanter has an edge of magical realism, but for the most part it is the struggle for life, marriage, family, and self under pressure; I loved it. Mark and Ruth Ardingly seek a new start. They leave their London life behind and find their new home at The Well. The Well turns… Continue reading

  • We Are Tiny: Streetwise Fiction

    Follow us throughout the fall for posts which highlight library resources and information that supports the Tiny: Streetwise Revisited exhibit at the Central Library and its community programming. The life of Erin Blackwell can be flipped through in a book and analyzed through the television screen, but don’t think for a minute that she’s not… Continue reading

  • A Bit of Library Magic: Ancestry Library Edition

    I believe in library magic. I’ve seen it many times in my sixteen years with the Seattle Public Library. Now some may wonder “What is library magic?” Well, its finding that newspaper article from 1937 that talked about your grandmother, discovering that movie you grew up watching over and over as a child and enjoying… Continue reading

  • Bringing Mexico Home

    I finally traveled abroad for the first time last year to Mexico! It was beautiful and rugged, but the best part was the food! I searched and searched the library to track down the food I fell in love with. Here are the recipes I’ve found and the stories attached: Tequila: Myth, Magic & Spirited… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for September

    Today is my dad’s birthday, he would have been 63 years old, but sadly I lost him to a sudden heart attack five months ago. Although my grief has settled a bit he is very much on my mind this month so I thought I’d use books as a form of therapy; seeing the commonality… Continue reading

  • In The Era Of Streetwise: Seattle 1983-1984

    Follow us throughout the fall for posts which highlight library resources and information that supports the Tiny: Streetwise Revisited exhibit at the Central Library and its community programming. Streetwise was a documentary released in 1984 that showed us “even in a town that billed itself as America’s most livable city, there still existed rampant homelessness and… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for August

                Swan Gondola by Timothy Schaffert was along the same vein as Morgenstern’s The Night Circus with a bit of Baum’s Wizard of Oz thrown in. It takes place in 1898 and tells a love story in the midst of the fictional Omaha World’s Fair. In the beginning though before… Continue reading

  • Get Outside: Comfort

    I long to have a backyard of my own someday, I envision hammocks and a fire pit and string lights and planters and of course an epic BBQ for my boyfriend and I to entertain guests. As we look for houses I’m searching for the yard that can bring that vision to life. In the… Continue reading

  • Flaked Soundtrack Appreciation

    We don’t have a cable television home, but the boyfriend and I do have Apple TV, so we like to occasionally choose a new show to watch together. He binge watches CSI when I work my late nights and I binge watch Shameless on my days off, but it’s nice to have something to enjoy together… Continue reading

  • Get Outside: Forage

    Growing up there was always this one alley nearby that had that largest raspberry bush and it produced the most wonderful raspberries in summertime. My friend and I would grab plastic bags from home and fill them to the brim. After washing them we’d eat them raw, make a simple jam out of them, or… Continue reading

  • The Wondrous World of the Central Library

    Emily Winfield Martin is the writer of the blog The Black Apple that I have been following for eons it seems. She has also written a few children’s books that are beautiful, delightful, and available from the library; one being Oddfellow’s Orphanage. That particular story tells us about Delia, a silent albino girl, who discovers… Continue reading

  • Bus Reads for July

    American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis is an entertaining and hilarious take on the ups and downs of domesticity. These twelve stories take you from disputes of interior design to suggestions on how to be a grown-ass lady to a stream of consciousness in the day in the life of housewifedom. Some of the stories… Continue reading