science fiction

  • Science Fiction for the Movie Based Fan!

    I love science fiction – but realized recently that the genre is really different to read than it is to watch. I have two dozen favorite TV shows and movies that are all science fiction, but really struggle to find the same styles and pacing in books. However, I have recently come across some titles… Continue reading

  • The best of genre reading in 2018

    Coordinated by the American Library Association, each year a group of librarians from across the country form The Reading List Council with the goal to identify the year’s best books across eight genres. Here are the 2019 winners (for books published in 2018) in Adrenaline, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, and Women’s… Continue reading

  • Thrilling Tales is Off to the Races!

    Thrilling Tales is Off to the Races!

    This summer, Thrilling Tales (the Library’s Story Time for Grown Ups) takes listeners off to the races with a pair of horse racing tales,  and then out into the rose garden with Shirley Jackson to dig into dark underside suburbia, before heading to the seashore to grapple with aliens from another world, and from the… Continue reading

  • May the 4th Be With You!

    “May the 4th be with you.” What started as pun warmly shared by fans has become a full-fledged Star Wars holiday: Star Wars Day, a special once-a-year celebration of the galaxy far, far away. One of the earliest known records of “May the 4th” used in popular culture is in 1979, as described here by… Continue reading

  • Le Guin, Allende, Bradbury & More, This Spring at Thrilling Tales!

    This Spring Thrilling Tales, the library’s popular story time for grown ups, is branching out with new monthly evening events in addition to our regular lunch hour gatherings. Now in its 15th year, the program celebrates the joy of story with live readings of compelling, intriguing, wondrous and suspenseful stories. Here’s what’s coming up in the… Continue reading

  • A genre reading list for library insiders

    Chances are some of you haven’t heard of ALA’s Reading List Council, but trust me on this one: Their annual list of top books in several genres is a book lover’s gem. They pick the best in eight genres — including mystery, science fiction, and adrenaline (read: suspense/heart-thumping-page-turner) for adult readers. Librarians love that the Reading List is… Continue reading

  • City Council Reads – Sally Bagshaw, District 7

    City Council Reads – Sally Bagshaw, District 7

    This past November, Seattle swore in a new Mayor and City Councilmember, and we here at ShelfTalk thought this would be a great opportunity to continue our series of posts in which we invited your representatives to share books that have meant a lot to them. This time, we asked them “What book was most influential in your… Continue reading

  • My Favorite 2017 Science Fiction and Fantasy

    Every year I set reading goals for myself. One of those goals is to read as much as possible. I also try to get to a few older books I have been meaning to read. But trying to read the latest releases in literary fiction, nonfiction and science fiction and fantasy is an evergreen reading… Continue reading

  • Where It’s At: Science Fiction & Fantasy Novellas

    Some of the most exciting and fresh voices in science fiction and fantasy are coming out in short form. While short stories have long been where authors develop their craft and where innovation happens in the genre, novellas are currently a hot commodity for authors who are challenging the status quo. Novellas are where women,… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Science Nonfiction or Science Fiction

    Book Bingo 2017 is nearly at its end, with just two weeks left to get your bingo or blackout and turn in your card. Have you been puzzling over the Science Nonfiction/Science Fiction category? Enjoy these ideas for avenues to explore. Science Nonfiction Continue reading

  • The Comic Book Mignola-verse

    When I’m asked for comics recommendations, people often bring up “The Big Two”, Marvel Comics or DC, as a starting point. We’re talking Iron Man or Superman. Thor or Batman. Sometimes that’s the right route to take, but other times, a suggestion outside of this much focused-upon segment of the comics medium is the more… Continue reading

  • Thrilling Tales, All Summer Long.

    For over a decade, every other Monday at noon listeners have flocked to Thrilling Tales, the Library’s story time for grownups, spending their lunch hour rapt in suspenseful narratives. Janice Leadingham, a local bookseller said in a recent article in City Arts: “Especially for impatient people, it’s good because it slows things down a bit. For one hour, you can… Continue reading

  • Beyond The Handmaid’s Tale: Feminist Dystopia & Utopia

    We always love it when worthwhile, interesting books are adapted to film or TV, as it invariably means that a multitude of readers will be drawn to the source. As sales figures and waiting lists and libraries attest, this has been quite a year for Margaret Atwood’s landmark 1985 dystopia The Handmaid’s Tale, owing largely to… Continue reading

  • The World Ends Today at 12:05

    We’ve had hundreds of murders, scores of heists and scams, repeated instances of paranormal activity, and even a bit of cannibalism. Yet is rare that we’ll destroy an entire planet. But during Thrilling Tales: A Storytime for Grown Ups starting at noon today, we just might manage it. In H.G. Wells’ 1897 story The Star, a mysterious mass from outer space… 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

  • Beyond and After Butler

    -posted by Veronica H. Octavia Butler is a giant in science fiction and fantasy and her legacy is far-reaching. Her importance to the genre cannot be overstated. In honor of the recent Door to a Pink Universe Flash Fiction contest, I wanted to highlight some authors who are following in Butler’s footsteps and changing the… Continue reading

  • Love Science Fiction & Fantasy? Join the Other Realms Roundtable!

    If you love science fiction and fantasy and are looking to find out about more good books to read, then the Other Realms Roundtable may be just for you! Starting in January, the Other Realms Roundtable book group will be meeting on the 2nd Thursday of the month at noon at City Hall’s City Grind… Continue reading

  • Movie Mondays: Sci-Fi for Short Attention Spans

    ~posted by Frank I’m about to make a heretical statement, but I find many sci-fi films to be….boring. There’s never a lack of grand ideas to explore, but often I find them to be less than compelling on the screen. And then there are great sci-fi films like Interstellar – but at nearly three hours, it felt… Continue reading