Bum-ber-shoot. Noun.
(1) Another name for an umbrella.
(2) An incredible music & arts festival held every Labor Day weekend at Seattle Center.

I have lived in Washington for nearly a decade. In that time, I have attended exactly one day of one Bumbershoot. It was back in 2009, but the memories still live in my soul. I had friends visiting from the Midwest. I left the tickets at...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

I was able to listen to an interview with Debra Prinzing on NPR on my way to work one day. It was so fascinating that I had to sit in my car until the bitter end. Prinzing, a Seattle and Los Angeles based garden writer, introduced me to the concept of 'slow flowers' that day. We're all familiar with the idea of 'slow food': food that is local, seasonal, and sustainable. This is an accepted and desirable concept. Well, transfer that idea to flowers and you've...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Due to my exposure to the Lives of the Twelve Caesars by Suetonius at a formative age, I've always had a weakness for biographies of historical figures with a healthy amount of scandal. There is an admittedly voyeuristic pleasure at poking around the lives of others. Along...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

I don’t have all the answers to what happened back home, or why people did what they did, or, more to the point, why I didn’t do what I should’ve.

The Sin-Eater’s Confession by Ilsa J. Bick is a...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

So, you’ve probably heard that Dan Brown,

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

apophenia - the perception of connections, patterns or meaningfulness in unrelated things.

As regular readers of Heartwood know (that's right, all five of you), I am frequently stunned that whatever I happen to be reading seems to connect in surprising ways with other things I've read or recently lived through. I find this one of reading's greatest pleasures.

A couple of years ago I was reading...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Sue Tracy! Congratulations to Sue for her winning limerick:

This is an old book I adore,
A jolly good read to the core,
I laugh and I cry,
I gasp and I sigh,
But my book club thinks it's a bore!

We've all felt your pain on this one! Of course the Everett Public Library can help you avoid the gentle snoring of your book club...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Recently, the blog team was presented with an article by Maria Popova that contains an interesting quote:

"Non-reading is not just the absence of reading. It is a genuine activity, one that consists of adopting a stance in relation to the immense tide of books that protects you from drowning. On that basis, it deserves to be defended and even taught."

~ from

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Welcome to our fourth and final Poetry Friday. Every Friday of this month, in honor of National Poetry Month, a staff member has chosen a poem that is a particular favorite. This week we present selections from Lisa.

Atmospherics

There is a thin line between the poetry I am drawn to, and the prose that I love to read. More than...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

The red dye used in many foods and cosmetics comes from the insect cochineal?

Cochineals live on the nopal cactus in Mexico, and are harvested at about 3 months old. It takes about 70,000 insects to make a pound of cochineal dye!

I found this information in the book

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

I can’t remember the last time I sat down with a book of poems, a hot mug of deliciousness, and delved into the world of poetry. That would be because I hate poetry with the fiery hot passion of a thousand suns. It’s usually either completely esoteric or so aloof that I just cannot relate to it, no matter how hard I try.

All that changed last year when staff were asked to read their favorite poems and have them recorded and posted to...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Welcome to our third Poetry Friday. Every Friday of this month, in honor of National Poetry Month, a staff member will choose a poem that is a particular favorite. This week we present a selection from Richard. Also, don’t forget that we are having a friendly competition this month where you can submit your own poems.

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

My gardening life is cyclical…non-existent in the winter, heavy-duty in Spring and Summer and occasional in the Fall.

I am spending all of my free time these days out in the yard, but let's face it- it's been pretty damp lately. The reasonable alternative is to check out all of the gorgeous new gardening books from the library. Here's a quick review of some of the more popular and enticing new ones, along with some really beautiful and...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

I don't set out intentionally to read short stories. Really. As I look through reviews and hear of books, I simply write down the titles that seem interesting. When I revisit that list later, though, it becomes painfully obvious that I've got a short story addiction. I'm sure it reveals some kind of character flaw, a lack of focus perhaps or maybe an inability to commit. Luckily for me denial is a favorite response to problems. So I'm afraid society will have to pry that copy of...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Welcome to our second Poetry Friday. Every Friday of this month, in honor of National Poetry Month, a staff member will choose a poem that is a particular favorite. This week we present a selection from Leslie. Also, don't forget that we are having a friendly competition this month where you can submit your own poems.

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

I knew I was going to like this book when I read the author's dedication: For my best girls and my ex-BFFs

I think most grown women and young girls understand the power of an intense friendship. These relationships can be beautiful and decades long or they can be short-lived and downright destructive to the point where a person loses their own identity. It's not any comfort to know that friendships can be as baffling at the age of 40 as...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

General Fiction / Literary Fiction

The Flamethrowers...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Welcome to Poetry Friday. Every Friday of this month, in honor of National Poetry Month, a staff member will choose a poem that is a particular favorite. This week we present a selection from Ron. Also, don't forget that we are having a friendly competition this month where you can submit your own poems.

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

I do love a good mystery. A good mystery. Which eliminates roughly … all of them. Of course I'm exaggerating for comedic effect. As my divinity mentor was fond of saying, You are nothing if not a clown. And don't touch that divinity, I just finished cooking it!

But seriously mystery fans, sometimes it seems that any object affected by gravity thinks it can pen a mystery novel. This, of course, makes for a lot of poorly...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Calling all creatives! The Everett Public Library would like to hear you wax poetic about the things we love the most: books, reading, writing, our library, or just libraries in general. Throughout the month of April, aka National Poetry Month, we'll be asking you to send in your original haiku or

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Pandora. Most may recognize this name from Greek mythology:

Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology, taken from the myth of Pandora's creation in Hesiod's Works and Days. The "box" was actually a large jar (pithos) given to Pandora ("all-gifted", "all-giving"), which contained all the evils of the world. Today, the phrase "to open Pandora's box" means to...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

I hope you know that you're invited to a free public literary event with Timothy Egan and Nancy Pearl on Saturday, April 6th at 7 PM at the Everett Performing Arts Center. This should be a great evening for lovers of both history and literature. Timothy Egan will read from his latest book,

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

To be fired originally meant that you could no longer work in your trade?

Back in the days of travelling tradesmen, workers would carry their work tools in a sack. A new employer would hold their sack for them while they were at a job. If the boss was unhappy with an employee's work, he would give the work bag back –"sacking" them and they would move along… If they did something really bad, he would burn the tools and sack and they...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Not to cast aspersions on your sanity, dear reader, but in all likelihood you often hear a voice in your head. I’m not talking about a sinister whisper suggesting unspeakable acts, like eating that jelly-filled donut or calling in sick to watch every cut of Blade Runner back-to-back. No, I’m thinking of the voice you hear when you read a book. The words are on the page, but you have to provide the inflection, tone and, occasionally, sound effects.

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Vote for it, watch it, discuss it at the Evergreen Branch Library on April 24th.

Fine film folks. There are a ton of best-movies-ever lists. Enough to drive you nuts, really. There are even lists of the best lists. This only so-so...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

It may seem a bit odd to celebrate Women's History Month by talking about fictional females, but here I am. I've noticed that I wind up reading a lot of fiction with males in lead roles; I guess it's all that wizardry, sword fighting, and space travel going on - apparently lots of testosterone is needed. Needless to say, I always find it refreshing when I come across a woman in a book that I'm reading who can play with the boys, sometimes even beating them at their own game. Whether...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

My skin is always cold. I don't like people to touch me, to try to hold my hand or touch the back of my neck because the skin there is always cold. Even in the middle of a scorching August day parts of my body are cold. Passing mirrors or shop windows I'm startled into remembering I'm inside this body. I feel like I just fell into it, that I was somewhere else a few minutes ago and then boom! I'm human again. Being inside this skin is almost ridiculous. I think that's how zombies...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

How exciting for short fiction fans to see George Saunders' story collection, Tenth of December, rise on national best-seller...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

What happened to his parents?
Where is that screaming coming from?
Is it too late?
This book contains these and other wrong questions.

Thus begins the dust jacket for

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.

Ever since a brilliant, beautiful friend of mine entered a small-time city beauty pageant and lost to the mayor's granddaughter (whose talent was disco roller skating), I've not held these contests in the highest regard. But actually, my disdain started much earlier in life. One of the first grown-up movies I remember watching as a kid is Smile, a biting satire of pageants and...

»» Click to continue reading this blog post.