Summer reading

  • Personalized reading suggestions for teens in Seattle!

    For all you teens in Seattle — our incredible teen services librarians are ready to help you find a book you WANT to read. All you have to do is use the Ask-a-Librarian form to tell us a little bit about what you like to read. We’ll get back to you in a day or two… Continue reading

  • What’s your summer reading goal?

    At The Seattle Public Library, our goal is for the good people of Seattle to read 148,000 books this summer. That’s right: 148,000 books. And we’re pretty sure we can reach that goal — with your help, of course. It’s an all-ages kind of reading celebration this summer: Kids, teens and adults can sign up for… Continue reading

  • Children’s Summer Reads: Chapter Books

    Summer is almost here, along with Summer Reading programs, days at the beach, camping, and a much deserved respite from school. Now is the time for some fun, recreational reading. These new titles are sure to put kids in a summer state of mind: Animal Rescue Team: Gator on the Loose! , by Sue Stauffacher… Continue reading

  • Summer reading countdown …

    We have 24 days to reach our goal of reading 125,000 books in Seattle this summer! Stop by your neighborhood branch or Level 3 of the Central Library to let us know how many books you’ve read since June 1. Pictured above: Sign at the Greenwood Branch, photo taken in July. Help your branch reach its goal! Continue reading

  • Even More Summer Staff Favorites for Children

    Gully’s Travels, by Tor Seidler J SEIDLER Gully lives a happy life of luxury, residing in Manhattan and travelling to Paris with his professor. Everything changes when his master rejects him and he is forced to live a simpler life-style with a happy-go-lucky family. Gully tries to solve the riddle of why he was abandoned… Continue reading

  • ‘The Help’ reaches its tipping point

    There’s a lot to love about summer reading when you work in a library, but the best part is when people stop by to tell you what they’ve been reading. And that’s how, early in June, I found one of my favorite books of the past several years: The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  In this… Continue reading

  • More Summer Staff Favorites for Children: Historical Fiction

    The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, by Kristin Levine J LEVINE Prepare to fall in love with the narrator of this story! Dit tells the tale of a memorable year in tiny Moundville, Alabama, during World War I, the year he meets and befriends Emma.  Dit provokes a blatantly racist sheriff to shoot at… Continue reading

  • Summer Reading: A few favorites from Montlake

    Books pictured here include: Love is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman Two Rivers by T. Greenwood The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay Two… Continue reading

  • Risks of Sunbathing Topless

    Just came across this delightful Literary Staycation post, with book recommendations from Margaret, a high school volunteer at the Teen Center at The Seattle Public Library. How can I now resist reading The Risks of Sunbathing Topless and Other Funny Stories from the Road when Margaret says, “By the end, I felt as if I’d been… Continue reading

  • More Summer Staff Favorites for Children: Fantasy Chapter Books

    Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep by Eleanor Farjeon J FARJEON Elsie Piddock was a born skipper from the age of three and, by the time she was seven, the fairies had heard of her.  They taught her the most fantastical skips anyone ever saw.  As Elsie grows older, her skipping is almost forgotten, becoming… Continue reading

  • The kids are getting restless!

    What are your kids – if you have kids – up to this summer? If I remember my own childhood summers aright, they’re probably getting just a little bit desperate about now, as the fireworks recede in the rearview mirror and the memory of being released from school is just as hazy as the awareness… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Summer reads . . .

    Ahhh … summer reading in Seattle. Whether you’re bringing a book to the beach or packing one (or four) for vacation, our staff has some recommendations for you. And perhaps while you’re at the Library you’d like to log your books read in our Adult Summer Reading notebook? All you need to do is write… Continue reading

  • More Summer Staff Favorites for Children: Picture Books

    Beware of the Frog by William Bee  E BEE Mrs. Collywobbles lives all alone on the edge of a dark, scary forest, with no one to protect her except for her pet . . . frog?  Yes, but this is no ordinary frog, as the Greedy Goblin, Smelly Troll, and Giant Hungry Ogre all discover,… Continue reading

  • Guaranteed no-pressure book group experience

    I clearly have the best job in the world, because I regularly get to go to a book group that does nothing but talk about good books — and lots of them. This isn’t your typical “let’s all read the same book and talk about it” book group. Instead, this is an informal group where… Continue reading

  • Are you more well-read than a 5th grader?

    How’s your summer reading going? Ours is going great. And by ours, we mean our Adult Summer Reading Program. So far this month, 1,434 adults have signed up for the reading program in branches all over the city, and have read 2,969 books, that they’ve told us about anyway. That’s the entire population of Willacoochee,… Continue reading

  • Best audiobooks for family travel

    You are about to embark on that ever-romanticized ritual, the family road trip.  The bags are packed, the car has a full tank and tires have air.  Now, what about entertainment for the backseat crowd?  Having a selection of audio stories may be key to maintaining a zen-like, peaceful atmosphere in your car while you… Continue reading

  • Staff Favorites: Three more novels for your summer reading . . .

    Rex Libris: I, Librarian by James Turner Rex Libris, Head Librarian at Middleton Public Library, takes his place along other great librarian action adventure heroes like Nancy Pearl and Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though he may look the part of a nerdy, mild mannered librarian with his suit and tie and thick glasses,… Continue reading

  • Is it summer? Are you reading? Guess what that means…

    Oh, those summer evenings in Seattle. Plenty of time to sink into a good book. Sure, we know it isn’t technically summer yet, but mother nature doesn’t seem to have figured that out this June – knock wood – and the nights have been just perfect, with ample light to read by late into the evening, and enough warmth… Continue reading