WA Secretary of State Blogs

Paranormal mystery surrounds tragedy in Gregg Olsen’s Envy

Wednesday, September 19th, 2012 Posted in Washington Reads | Comments Off on Paranormal mystery surrounds tragedy in Gregg Olsen’s Envy


Envy: An Empty Coffin Novel (Book 1). By Gregg Olsen. New York : Splinter, 2011. 285 p.

Recommendation by:
Rand Simmons, Acting Washington State Librarian, Tumwater, WA.

It begins with a suicide. A young girl, Katelyn, depressed and lonely, slips into a tub of water. Or, was it murder?
Katelyn’s childhood friends, Hayley and Taylor Ryan suspect the latter and set about to prove it so. The twins are the children of a true crime writer and a psychiatric nurse. But, they have gifts beyond those they have learned from dinner table conversation.

Set in Port Gamble, Washington author Gregg Olsen explores the dark side of this company town. The first in Olsen’s Empty Coffin series this is a good read for teens, especially girls ages 15-16. It may well appeal to a wider audience of murder mystery lovers.

Once you’ve read Envy you will hunger for the next in the series, Betrayal.

Editor’s Note: This book was selected by the Washington State Library for the 2012 National Book Festival, held in Washington D. C.

ISBN-10: 1402789572

Available at the Washington State Library, NW 813.6 OLSEN 2011
Available as an eReader edition and as a downloadable talking book.
Not available as a Braille edition.

Rejuvenation in the Yakima Valley

Friday, June 29th, 2012 Posted in Articles, For Libraries, For the Public | Comments Off on Rejuvenation in the Yakima Valley


From the desk of Carolyn Petersen, Assistant Program Manager, Library Development.

Recently I had occasion to visit the newly remodeled downtown branch of Yakima Valley libraries.  To quote Fats Waller “The joint is jumpin’”.  Folks were streaming in and out of their newly repainted, updated and light filled central library on a Thursday noon hour, not necessarily a prime patron time.

Attached is a view of their renovated Young Adult area.  If you are in the area, stop by.  You will be impressed by the progress the Yakima Valley library staff have made in updating this essential resource