Summer reading

  • #BookBingoNW2019: Set in Summer

    A particular satisfaction can be found in reading that mirrors the season outside, a satisfaction you can revel in while filling the BookBingoNW category Set in Summer. From coming-of-age, to mystery, to general fiction and nonfiction, we have ideas to get you started. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman Over the course of… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2019: Science

    Looking for something to fill in your Book Bingo “Science” square?  Something that will stretch your brain? How about a fascinating page-turner that somehow makes complex topics easy to grasp? Here are some titles that bear no resemblance to a dusty chemistry textbook: A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Human Story Retold… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2019: Set in the Northwest

    Welcome to another year of Summer Book Bingo and suggestions for the category “set in the NW!” This category is one of my favorites because it gives me a chance to explore my home region in fiction. Find these titles and other suggestions here. While I’m native to Portland, OR, there’s one book that made… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2019: Comics

    Comics is a magical and mysterious medium that can fill one or all of your Book Bingo card squares this summer! It’s up to you! Take a look at this recent staff booklist of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Comics and Graphic Novels and maybe try out In Between, a collection of poetry comics by… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW: published when author was under 35

    Book Bingo 2019 is now underway, and we know many of you are out there pouring over your 2019 bingo cards planning what to read, so today I’m here to help you fill the “published when author was under 35” square. Here are some suggestions for fiction, nonfiction and memoir published when the author was… Continue reading

  • Summer Book Bingo — let the reading begin!

    It’s time for our fifth season of Summer Book Bingo for grownups! We know you can’t wait to see this year’s categories, so here you go. First thing you need to do to get started on Book Bingo: head on over to your neighborhood library and pick up a card!  You can also download cards… 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

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Reread a Book You Read in School

    Although we are hard pressed to think of a single drawback to Book Bingo, it is true that for some readers it calls forth unwelcome memories of required reading. Yet the popularity of bingo and similar reading challenges and groups suggests that something appeals to us about being stretched beyond our habitual reading appetites. Might those same… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Finish in a day

    As much as I enjoy being immersed in a great book for days on end, there is something particularly satisfying about finishing a book quickly. This year’s Summer Book Bingo again features the category “Finish in a Day.” For the sake of consistency, I have chosen to limit this list to books that average about… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Genre That Is New To You

    Figuring out what to read for this square is different for everybody and may take a little self-reflection. A tricky part is not launching yourself into The Land of Titles That Would Be Horribly Painful And I Would Never Finish, defeating the whole point of actually reading something.  I do recommend spending a few moments… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Read a book by a SAL speaker

    Perhaps that fourth row middle square – to read a book by “A SAL speaker (past or upcoming)” — gave you pause this year. It’s a delightful challenge because you have dozens and DOZENS of incredible authors to choose from. SAL stands for Seattle Arts & Lectures, our partner in the adult summer reading program Book… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Young adult

    Need a book for that Young Adult square but aren’t quite sure where to start? Young adult fiction has come a long way since Sweet Valley High, with captivating, well-written titles that cross and blend just about every genre out there.  There is, of course, an abundance of teen romance,  but there is also excellent… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Art and Artists

    What is art, anyway? Merriam-Webster defines it as “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.” With such a broad definition, there are many different directions readers can go with this particular Book Bingo square. Here are a few strategies for filling this square: Fiction A few authors,… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Poetry

    Bingo is a game of chance. Take a chance on poetry. Reading a poem, for some, is akin to entering a country where everybody speaks a language, except the one you know. Poetry can be daunting.  It can, also, be a journey unlike any other.  Take, Josephine Yu’s Prayer Book of the Anxious, for instance.… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Set in another country

    Hopefully by now you’re well on your way to completing a Summer Book Bingo Card, but if not, we’re here to help. For the “Set in another country,” square there is a super-secret librarian trick to browsing fiction by country in the library catalog. To bring up a list of fiction set in a particular… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Read a book adapted into a movie

    Not to be overly critical of a billion dollar industry or anything, but I think Hollywood has an originality problem. Books with any kind of following are immediately optioned for films – think Gone Girl, Girl on the Train, and The Martian. In other words, we’re not lacking for books that will satisfy the “Adapted… Continue reading

  • #BookBingoNW2017: Maximize your Blackout strategy with comic books

    Comic books are one of your greatest strategic resources in scoring a blackout on your Summer Book Bingo card. Don’t feel like you should limit comics to the Graphic novel square. There’s a comic for any square, many of which are quick reads (helpful for that Finish in a day square). Here are comic book… Continue reading

  • Book Bingo: Published the Year One of Your Parents Was Born

    Listen: when I saw the Book Bingo category “published the year one of your parents was born” the first thing I did was Google “books published in 1950.” I was prepared to tell you of more labyrinthine research processes to help you find a book for this category, but it turns out Google is a… Continue reading