New Fiction Roundup – July 2022

Summer reading continues with these great new releases:

7/5: Acts of Violet by Margarita Montimore
After magician Violet Volk disappeared mid-act, her sister Sasha picked up the pieces and moved on. Coming up on the ten year anniversary, with both a podcast host and her niece digging up old memories, Sasha resolves to discover the truth about Violet. (general fiction) A Peak Pick!

7/5: Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola
College radio host Kiki Banjo takes it as her mission to warn the women of the African-Caribbean Society against the players and cads who would break their hearts. But when she’s caught kissing Malakai Korede, who she just called out, she decides to save face by entering into a fake relationship with Malakai. Will they catch feelings? (romance) A Peak Pick!

July Author Events: Daniel James Brown, Fonda Lee, Annalee Newitz and more

Here are a few reasons to be indoors in July: The Seattle Public Library’s lineup of free author programs, including Daniel James Brown (“The Boys in the Boat”) in conversation with Tom Ikeda about his new book “Facing the Mountain;” and two terrific Clarion West events featuring authors Fonda Lee, Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders.

You can trek to our air-conditioned Central Library for these events, or watch them livestreamed from the comfort of your couch. Registration is required for both in-person and online attendance; check the event descriptions at spl.org/Calendar for registration and links. See upcoming programs at spl.org/Authors.

Clarion West presents Fonda Lee

From 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, July 5, Central Library and online

Fonda Lee is the World Fantasy Award-winning author of the epic urban fantasy “Green Bone Saga” as well as the acclaimed young adult science fiction novels “Zeroboxer,” “Exo,” and “Cross Fire.” This event is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation, author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation and Seattle City of Literature, and is presented in partnership with University Book Store.

Virtual Writers Read

From 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, July 10, online.

This monthly reading series features local writers reading from their diverse repertoires of poetry, short stories, novels and essays. It is

June 2022 Author Events: Quintard Taylor, Judy Heumann, Ottessa Moshfegh and More

The Library is bringing in June with amazing author evens. Learn about the history of Seattle’s Black community, hear poems inspired by video games and AI, meet the authors of one of the most talked-about comics of 2020, listen to award-winning fantasy authors, hear the story of leading disability rights activist Judy Heumann and more.

Registration is required for both in-person and online attendance; check the event description at spl.org/Calendar for registration and links. All events are free and open to the public.

The Language of Machines: Asian Voices on New Poetics From Tech, Robotics and Video Games – online

Saturday, June 4, 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.  Poets Neil Aitken (“Baggage’s Dream”), Betsy Aoki (“Breakpoint”), and Margaret Rhee (“Love, Robot”), share insights about crafting award-winning poems from programming languages, video games, AI and robotics. This event is presented in partnership with Open Books: A Poetry Emporium and supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation, author series sponsors the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation, Open Books and Seattle City of Literature.

Quintard Taylor Discusses “The Forging of a Black Community” – Central Library and online

Tuesday, June 7, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Celebrate the release of the second edition of this seminal work by the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History and professor emeritus at the University of Washington. With a new foreword and afterword, “The Forging of a Black Community” is essential to understanding the history and present of the largest Black community in the Pacific Northwest. The author will appear in conversation with Dr. Quin’Nita Cobbins-Modica. This event is presented in partnership with the Northwest African American Museum, Elliott Bay Book Company, and University of Washington Press, and is supported by The Seattle Public Library Foundation and the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation.

New Fiction Roundup – May 2022

Get ready for summer reading with May new releases! It’s a (perhaps surprisingly) good month for new horror releases, as well as new titles from literary favorites, some great romance, and much more.

5/3: Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Cutthroat literary agent Nora takes a girls trip to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina but continually finds herself thrown together with Charlie, a brooding editor that she knows from home. Will they write their own love story? (romance) A Peak Pick!

5/3: Book of Night by Holly Black
Thief Charlie Hall is trying to get out of the business, but she works for some dangerous people: gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to eavesdrop and sometimes kill. With a desperate sister and a boyfriend hiding secrets, Charlie enters the hunt for a book that could unleash a terrifying power. (fantasy)

5/3: Companion Piece by Ali Smith
Pandemics, isolation, companionship, medieval clocks, poetry, and wordplay are rich ground for the author of the Seasonal Quartet. (general fiction)

5/3: The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
In 1820s Mexico, Beatriz accepts a marriage proposal and finds herself at a haunted estate, where she’ll rely on the help of a local priest to save herself and the others who live at the hacienda. (horror)

5/3: The Immortal King Rao by Vauhini Vara
17-year-old Athena recounts the story of her father, King Rao, who overcame being born into the lowest caste in India to become a tech billionaire. Thanks to one of King Rao’s inventions, The Harmonica, Athena has access to all his memories and must use them to absolve herself of his suspicious death. (general fiction)

New Fiction Roundup – April 2022

New novels by heavy-hitters such as Jennifer Egan, Emily St. John Mandel, and Douglas Stuart join debut novels involving a heist, police in Lahore, and a trip across the 1880s American West.

4/5: The Candy House by Jennifer Egan
Tech mogul Bix Bouton develops “Own your Unconscious,” a technology that allows one to externalize their memory and share those memoires with others. In interlocking narratives told by multiple characters over several decades, the consequences of Bix’s technology are spun out. A sibling novel to Egan’s award winning novel A Visit from the Good Squad. A Peak Pick! (general fiction)

4/5: Four Treasures of the Sky by Jenny Tinghui Zhang
Kidnapped from China and smuggled to America, Daiyu constantly reinvents herself in order to survive, roaming across the 1880s American West as anti-Chinese sentiment sweeps across the country. A Peak Pick! (historical fiction)

4/5: Let’s Not Do That Again by Grant Ginder
Running for the US Senate, Nancy Harrison would like to focus on her campaign, but instead must grapple with two grown children who are adrift: Nick, aimlessly writing a musical about Joan Didion; and Greta, who finds herself in Paris with extremist protestors. (comic fiction)

4/5: Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
In this lyrical heist novel that delves into diaspora, the colonization of art, and the complexity of Chinese American identity, a crew of five led by Harvard senior Will Chen attempt to steal five priceless Chinese sculptures from an American museum and return them to Beijing. (Crime thriller)