Seattle Nonfiction
Take a trip through the many stories of Seattle with these adult nonfiction books, published 2023-2025, and selected by our librarians. (Created August 2025)
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Lamestains
This book is a critical history of Sub Pop, the Seattle independent rock label that launched the careers of countless influential 'grunge' bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Uncle Rico's Encore
Autobiographical essays explore the experiences of Filipino Americans in Seattle from the 1950s-1970s, from everyday moments and celebrations to coordinated acts of defiance and activism.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Stomp and Shout
In a tour de force, Blecha offers all music fans the definitive book about the highly significant but much neglected story of Northwestern U.S. rock. (Library Journal)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Signs of Vanishing Seattle
Signs of Vanishing Seattle celebrates places loved and lost by documenting a community-sourced collection of salvaged signs from gathering spaces and social landmarks that have shaped Seattle's visual and cultural landscape over the years. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Street Trees of Seattle
...Ebrahimi takes readers on a tour of existing trees throughout Seattle neighborhood and iconic parks through charming line drawings. In the process, she educates readers on the history of the trees and the city, and offers up drawings of leaves, trees, and leaflets as a charming but effective way to identify trees throughout the city. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Way Home
[This] work of narrative nonfiction set in Seattle-King County, Washington, explores the contemporary landscape of homelessness with an emphasis on innovative local solutions. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Biking Uphill in the Rain
Tom Fucoloro's new book explores the good, the bad, and the sometimes-shocking history of Seattle's bike culture. (The Stranger)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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One Week to Change the World
Through interviews with more than 100 participants including protestors, police, and politicians, Gibson portrays the 1999 WTO protests that rocked Seattle and examines their aftermath.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Seattle Samurai
Between 2012 and 2018, Sam Goto drew over 250 multi-paneled Seattle Tomodachi ("friend of Seattle") comic strips for The North American Post. These comics chronicled the lives and stories of early Japanese settlers and their American-born offspring. Through his work, he captured elements of culture, nostalgia, and history, while infusing his characters - Shigeru Tomo and his alterego Samurai Shigeru - with the samurai values of courage, respect, and continuous improvement and compassion. (Publisher description)
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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I Sing the Salmon Home
Salmon are a keystone species in the Pacific Northwest, and Priest, a member of the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation, chose to honor them by compiling this anthology during her tenure as the Washington State Poet Laureate.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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