The Best Books of 2021
The Desk Set
Librarians talk about staff picks for the best books of 2021. We also chat about books we're looking forward to reading in 2022 and the value of reading broadly.
info_outline
Epistolary Time Travel
The Desk Set
Hear interviews with authors Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone, and E.J. Koh. El-Mohtar and Gladston chat about their spy novella, This Is How You Lose the Time War. Koh discusses her memoir, The Magical Language of Others. Each author talks about how letter writing can act as a form of time travel. We also share some of our other favorite epistolary works.
info_outline
Race, Place, and Coming of Age
The Desk Set
Hear interviews with authors Monica West and Brittany Ackerman. West talks about Revival Season, a story about a Black evangelical family and a crisis of faith. Ackerman chats about The Brittanys, a novel about teen friends growing up in Florida. We also discuss our picks for books set where we were born.
info_outline
Feed Drop: Mateo Askaripour
The Desk Set
Hear Mateo Askaripour, author of Black Buck, in conversation with Marcus Harrison Green of the South Seattle Emerald moderates.
info_outline
The Future, Real and Imagined
The Desk Set
Explore the future through the lens of science and fiction. We chat with scientist Kelly Weinersmith about the nonfiction book Soonish. Then, we talk to Sarah Pinsker, author of the science fiction novel, We Are Satellites.
info_outline
Feed Drop: Syed Masood
The Desk Set
Syed Masood, author of The Bad Muslim Discount, in conversation with Shahina Piyarali. This feed drop is an audio recording of a live webcast event.
info_outline
Wild Characters and Re-Reading
The Desk Set
Hear interviews with authors: Emily St. John Mandel (The Glass Hotel, Station Eleven) and Kira Jane Buxton (Hollow Kingdom) We chat about revisiting Station Eleven during the pandemic and writing nonhuman characters. Librarians Emily and Britta also have a conversation about rereading old favorites.
info_outline
Fake It Til You Make It
The Desk Set
Authors Rachel Lynn Solomon and Gabrielle Korn join us as guests to chat about their new books. Rachel talks about her adult debut The Ex Talk, a romantic comedy set at a Seattle public radio station. In the book, Shay and Dominic fake a past relationship as a pretense for the podcast they host together. Then, Gabrielle talks about her memoir Everybody (Else) Is Perfect. The book shares her experiences working in women's media, recovering from an eating disorder, street harassment, queer identity, and overcoming imposter syndrome as the youngest Editor-in-Chief at NYLON.
info_outline
Reading and Reflecting in 2021
The Desk Set
We interview Jenny Odell, the author of How To Do Nothing and chat about reading in 2021. We talk about new books we're excited to read and discuss our personal reading goals. We also reveal this year's library reading challenge categories. Then, Jenny Odell shares how persuasive design keeps our attention in digital spaces. She talks about connecting offline, reflecting on values, and redefining productivity.
info_outline
The Best Books of 2020
The Desk Set
Librarians share the best books of the year. In this episode, we're joined by KCLS staff members Vicki Huggins and Rachel Adams. We also chat about how reading was different in 2020, whether or not we met our reading goals, and more.
info_outlineJournalist Ken Armstrong, the author of A False Report, joins us to talk about his work investigating the rape of a young woman in Lynnwood who recanted her original report, even though it later turned out to be true. Then, Britta interviews Alex Marzano-Lesnevich, author of The Fact of A Body. They talk about how Alex's experience as a legal intern working on a death penalty case inspired the book, which weaves together memoir and true crime. Finally, we recommend some of our favorite books about crime (Emily's Picks | Britta's Picks) and shout-out KCLS's recommended mystery and true crime reads.