Each year the Library hosts readings, lectures, and discussions by authors and other public figures. You may watch video recordings of recent programs on our YouTube channel. Our archive of audio recordings goes back more than 10 years and includes thousands of memorable Library events.
Terry McMillan reads from 'Who Asked You?'
Terry McMillan reads from her latest book, "Who Asked You?" an intimate look at the burdens and blessings of family ties.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 26.88MB] [Play time: 0 hr 58 min]
Jonathan Lethem discusses his latest book, 'Dissident Gardens'
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 34.02MB] [Play time: 01 hr 01 min]
Timothy Egan discusses his book 'Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher'
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 34.02MB] [Play time: 01 hr 14 min]
Katy Butler discusses her book 'Knocking on Heaven's Door'
Journalist Katy Butler discusses her book 'Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death.'
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 30.10MB] [Play time: 01 hr 05 min]
The Bushwick Book Club Seattle performs original music inspired by 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'.
The Bushwick Book Club Seattle isn't your run-of-the-mill book club -- when they read books, they also write songs about them! Join us for original music inspired by L. Frank Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 35.21MB] [Play time: 1 hr 16 min]
Jonathan Raban discusses his book "Driving Home: An American Journey."
"Driving Home" collects two decades of Raban's essays -- travelogues and commentary that chart a course through American history, the Pacific Northwest, and current events.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 27.22MB] [Play time: 0 hr 59 min]
Simon Critchley and Jamieson Webster discuss and read from their new book, "Stay, Illusion! The Hamlet Doctrine."
Philosopher professor Critchley and psychoanalyst Webster, a husband and wife team, study Shakespeare's play alongside other writers, philosophers and psychoanalysts -- from Nietzsche and Freud to Melville and Joyce. They've found that, like an insistent ghost, Hamlet only has more to reveal with each passing era.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 32.09MB] [Play time: 01 hr 10 min]
Join us for an onstage conversation between Bruce Barcott, author of "The Measure of a Mountain," and Terry Tazioli, host of TVW’s "Well Read."
Bruce Barcott's love letter to Tahoma, "The Measure of a Mountain," details Barcott's attempts to know the mountain -- from his initial, disastrous, solo hikes, to his extensive research and interviews, to his ultimate attempt to reach the summit -- and in the process, helps readers understand this natural wonder a bit better.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 18.37MB] [Play time: 0 hr 40 min]
Reza Aslan discusses 'Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth'
Iranian-American writer/scholar Reza Aslan's latest book is the product of 20 years of meticulous research to get to the core of who Jesus was as a man and as a historical figure. -- Sifting through centuries of mythmaking, "Zealot" does not rely on the gospels for primary source material. Rather, it places Jesus in the social, religious and political milieu of his time so as to form a more accurate picture of Jesus, one that views him as a radical political revolutionary swept up, as every Jew of his era was, in the nationalist struggle for freedom from Roman occupation.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 38.59MB] [Play time: 01 hr 24 min]
Seattle Writes: Taking the Mystery out of Getting Published
Six published crime writers unveil the mysteries of writing and publishing in today's evolving marketplace. -- Panelists include: Bernadette Pajer, Mike Lawson, Charles Philipp Martin, Waverly Fitzgerald, Judy Dailey, and Leslie Budewitz. Recorded on July, 25 2013.
Listen to Audio (mp3) [file size: 35.37MB] [Play time: 01 hr 17 min]