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 to make you forget this world and become the book. As Wallace Stevens put it, “The summer night is like a perfection of thought.”

Yes, it is once again time for the library’s Summer Reading Program, when librarians all around the city turn the tables on their patrons and get you to tell us about some good books to read. (Actually, we always want to know about what you’ve been reading, but this provides us both with an excellent ice breaker).

All summer long, all around the library system, we’ll have lots of great programs for readers of all ages, and opportunities for you to share what you’ve been reading with us and the community of readers, through print review forms, or online via our website or right into the library catalog. (Oh, you didn’t know you could share your thoughts on the books in our catalog? Yep, all year round. Just click “Add a review” from the upper right hand corner of any item in our catalog, and tell your fellow Seattle readers what you think). 

The next time you visit your library, pick up our deluxe program of events and reading programs for children, teens and adults. Sign up for the program and let us know what you’ve been reading, or just how much: every neighborhood branch is racing to meet its own reading goal. Become a fan of the Seattle Public Library Summer Reading Program on Facebook. And look for some of our favorite patron reviews and upcoming events right here on Shelf Talk. If you’re looking for some ideas of what to read this summer, ask your librarian, and check out some of your fellow Seattle readers’ recommendations from the past.

If you like Lee Child and his ‘Jack Reacher’ novels …

Jack Reacher, a consummate loner and star of Lee Child’s novels, is a thinking person’s action hero. Intelligent, witty and unencumbered by possessions, Reacher drifts into a new town and meets injustice head on. He’s equal measure Dirty Harry and James Bond, always outwitting his opponents.  Child’s swift, cinematic thrillers continue to be among the finest of our time.

Lee Child reads from Gone Tomorrow,  the 13^th novel in the Jack Reacher series, on Tuesday, June 9, at 7 p.m. at the Central Library. If you’re a fan of Lee Child, you need no further enticement for this event, but you may be wondering what to read when you’re done with all 13 Reacher novels.

Consider these authors and titles for your summer reading:

Michael Connelly: You can’t go wrong with any in the Harry Bosch (L.A. detective) series, but standouts include Echo Park and the most recent Bosch novel, The Brass Verdict.  I also loved The Lincoln Lawyer and The Scarecrow; as far as I’m concerned, you can’t go wrong with any of his novels (just head to “Connelly” in the Mystery and Fiction shelves).

Peter Abrahams: A terminal diagnosis leads Roy Valois to take a sneak peek at his New York Times obituary, where he encounters a

Crawlspace returns to the Library!

What is Crawlspace? It is a collaboratively written book-length poem originally commissioned by Doug Nufer for presentation at the “Leg to Stand On” Reading Series in 2005.

“The first time C.E. Putnam and Daniel Comiskey performed their collaborative work Crawlspace, it may have been the best reading I’d been to in Seattle,” wrote a reviewer in the Seattle Weekly. “These two highly skilled wordsmiths gave a very memorable performance, trading lines in an easygoing dialogue.”

Now you can hear these talented Seattle poets as they perform Crawlspace at The Seattle Public Library. This free reading will take place:

Thursday, May 28, from 7 to 8:30 pm in the Central Library Auditorium.

In 2007, Comiskey and Putnam performed the poem at the Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater, celebrating the launch of the book and the companion disc. The CD includes a reading of the work by the authors, set within an innovative sound collage conceived and produced by C.E. Putnam, and featuring the voice of Stan Shiebert, librarian at Seattle Public Library. The book cover sports original 3-D graphic art, and each copy includes a free pair of 3-D glasses.

Daniel Comiskey, was coeditor of Monkey Puzzle, a magazine of poetry and prose, and worked as literary manager for The Poet’s Theater. His translations of Hu Xudong, produced in collaboration with Chinese scholar Ying Qin, appear in Another Kind of Nation: An Anthology of Contemporary Chinese Poetry. His work is also included in the Seattle Writers Issue of Golden Handcuffs Review.

C.E. Putnam was born in Seattle, Washington and has lived

Su casa es nuestra casa

You can never have too much sky

Where has the time gone? It has been 25 years since the original publication of Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street, a book that time and time again has found its way from our hands to those of readers at our library. They might be a reader interested in Latino Fiction, or coming-of-age stories. Poetry lovers, or readers seeking a fresh voice in fiction. They might be well-off or poor, man or woman of any race or creed. They could be a teen, or even a child. Sometimes they are just learning to read, or just learning English. So many different readers find a place in Cisneros’ House, a little book with a huge heart and open arms.

Olmsted’s Landscape Architecture

Just as soon as the weather warms up a bit, we will all be out in our wonderful parks jogging, taking our four-legged friend for a stroll, visiting with a friend from out East, or rowing happily in some much loved boat.  The backbone design for Seattle Parks was done by one of the premier landscape designers in America, John Charles Olmsted from Brookline, MA.  In 1903 Olmsted came to Seattle at the request of the City Council based on the recommendation of the Parks Board of Commissioners.  Olmsted designed the grounds for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition which became the