Northwest Authors

  • Two Washington Authors Tackle Labor History

    Washington State is home to an amazing array of authors. You can spend an entire year reading our writers of fiction, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, poetry, children’s literature, nonfiction and more. Check out the Washington State Book Awards for a glimpse of the range of writers that live, work, or have ties to our region.… Continue reading

  • 2020 Adaptations: From Book to Screen

    Books are increasingly becoming Hollywood’s most treasured manna–the star-stuff that inspires the year’s buzziest television films and movies. Here are some books and series coming to screens big and small this year: Let’s start with adaptations with Northwest ties! Continue reading

  • 2019 Washington State Book Awards finalists!

    Congratulations to the finalists for the 2019 Washington State book Awards!  The awards, a program of the Washington Center for the Book, honor outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2018. Finalists in all eight categories will be honored and winners announced at a ceremony and reception on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2019, 7 to 9… Continue reading

  • 20 Essential Seattle Books, Part 5 – Tales of the City

    Arriving at our fifth and final post suggesting twenty essential Seattle books, after posts highlighting history, race, place, and Northwest classics, we finish with a handful of novels evocative of our city and its culture. There are several good mystery series set in Seattle, but when a fictional detective has been on our rain-soaked streets for three decades his casebook offers real perspective.… Continue reading

  • 20 Essential Seattle Books, Part 4: Northwest Classics

    For the fourth of our posts suggesting twenty essential books for Seattleites, having focused on history, race and place, we now attempt to suggest some writers whose work best characterizes our “regional literature.” In previous posts we’ve already mentioned Richard Hugo and Sherman Alexie, both of whose works certainly belong on this post. Here are some more Northwest… Continue reading

  • My Favorite 2016 Science Fiction and Fantasy

    Every year I push myself to read a variety of fiction, new and old, and a mixture of science fiction and fantasy. Here are some of my favorite science fiction and fantasy novels published in 2016: Continue reading

  • Book Bingo: Set in the Northwest

       – Posted by Misha This summer The Seattle Public Library, in partnership with Seattle Arts & Lectures, is excited to offer a summer reading program for adults called Summer Book Bingo! In order to help you along on your quest to complete your bingo sheet, we have pulled together some book suggestions based on… Continue reading

  • Romantic Wednesdays: NW Romance Writers

    Posted by Marlene Following in the footsteps of the Science Fiction Fridays series on NW SF & F writers, today’s Romantic Wednesday will take a look at some NW Romance writers. Cherry Adair moved to the Pacific Northwest from South Africa, so it is fitting that the settings of all of her romantic suspense series… Continue reading

  • Five novels our librarians suggest for holiday gifts

    Three Northwest authors just happen to have written some of the hottest new books of the season, but we’re also including a British novel (with a Northwest connection!) and an Australian novelist for some international flair. Blasphemy by Sherman Alexie Alexie, one of Seattle’s most enigmatic and daring writers, combines 15 previous and 15 new… Continue reading

  • Crime, Seattle Style: A Reading List.

    Some of our favorite mysteries set in the rainy streets of Seattle. Third & Forever, by Lowen Clausen Grace Stevens investigates a series of rapes involving college athletes, including one dating the daughter of her former partner, in this final chapter of a gripping trilogy by a former Seattle police officer. Queer Street, by Curt Colbert.… Continue reading

  • 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

  • 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

  • Science Insight – Pacific Northwest “Adapter” Author

    Rebecca Stefoff is referred to as an “adapter” author who writes nonfiction for young adults, with an emphasis on science and history. Her gift is interpreting complex subjects and writings to make them understandable to the average reader. Thus, her focus is the young audience. Through her books, readers can explore topics as varied as… Continue reading

  • 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

  • Seattle Camera Club’s Vision of Beauty

    The beauty of our city, and its surroundings — how often have these been noted and commented on? Every fine day we get another opportunity to be grateful for Seattle’s location, and every rainy or cloudy day, the beauty is still present but cloaked in different covering. We’re lucky to be reminded of this simple… Continue reading

  • Nightstand Reading: Kerry Colburn and Jen Worick

    We asked local authors Kerry Colburn and Jen Worick to share their nightstand reads with us! Being asked about our nightstand reads is like being asked to choose between children … but we will for the sake of SPL. Jen’s nightstand: After reading A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness, which I loved, I went on… Continue reading

  • Seattle Picks: Set in Seattle

    Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie Someone is murdering white men in Seattle, scalping them and leaving owl feathers behind. As racial tensions rise to fever pitch, suspicion falls on John Smith, an Indian raised by white parents. Leaving Yesler by Peter Bacho Choices are few for a mixed-race working class kid from the projects, but… Continue reading

  • Mushroom Mania

    Autumn in Seattle means rain and lots of it. While many Seattle residents are indoors moaning about the miserable weather, a few of us are rubbing our hands with glee as the drops fall. We are the wild mushroom hunters, and this is our favorite time of year. On any given fall day after it rains,… Continue reading