Community Reading Program

This is the last of our reviews of your suggested books for our community-wide reading program. You can review other One Read nominees here. In January, our One Read reading panel will begin narrowing down the list and sometime in Spring we will vote as a community for our final selection.

One of our two nominating readers says this: “This is a true story about a situation that many of us aren’t really familiar with but presented with some humor. And the audio book version is well-read by the author.” “Born a Crime” is Noah’s tribute to his mother as much as his own coming-of-age story. Every story illustrates her determination, her bravery and her work to raise her family at the end of apartheid in South Africa. Noah does not sugarcoat the dangers he and his family experienced. You will enjoy his signature humor and brilliant storytelling style.

Watch the One Read website for the announcement of 2022’s title as well of other events and opportunities.

This is one of the last suggested titles we are highlighting for One Read 2022. In January the reading panel will start narrowing down the list!

Today’s title is “Hamnet” by Maggie O’Farrell. This book has won so many literary awards including the National Book Critic’s Circle Award and the Woman’s Prize for Fiction (which is featured as a task for the Read Harder 2022 reading challenge.) This is really the story Agnes who happens to be married to a not yet famous playwright and who, until now, was merely a footnote in history. One nominator says that it’s “a gem of a book, beautifully written.Topics include marriage, loss of a child, living through an epidemic — and how a writer (Shakespeare) uses that pain to honor his child by writing a play the loss has inspired.” Another nominator says that it has “incredible characters, beautiful descriptions.” We couldn’t agree more on both accounts! 

Be sure to check back for our final suggested One Read.

In January, our One Read reading panel will begin narrowing down the list of books nominated for our community-wide reading program. In the meantime, we are highlighting just some of these suggested titles so you can see what other local readers are enjoying.

Maggie Shipstead’s “Great Circle” is based on the rich history of female aviation in the days of barnstorming, biplanes and bootleggers. This book’s nominator says this about it: “A story of a strong female character on an incredible journey. She is relatable and has wide-ranging experiences across different historical contexts.” As a child, Marion Graves is orphaned and raised haphazardly by her uncle. Graves goes on to learn to fly and to become one of the era’s aviators with great drive to do impossible things. One hundred years later Hadley Baxter, also orphaned young and left to an absentee uncle, is cast to play the role of Graves. Shipstead artfully weaves the story together as Baxter becomes immersed in her role and parallels develop between the two women’s lives.

Stay tuned for more One Read nominees throughout the month of December!

We have just a few more nominated titles for One Read 2022 to share with you before the year ends. We are highlighting just some the many suggested titles so you can see what others are enjoying.

Today’s title is “Mary Jane” by Jessica Anya Blau which is a story about a young girl who takes a summer job as a nanny for a local doctor’s little girl. Mary Jane is from a very conservative and straight-laced family but the doctor’s family is chaotic and full of rock and roll. The nominator says that this is technically a coming of age story, but so much more. It deals with class, racism, mental health issues, sexuality, addiction — so many things that feel relevant and ripe for discussion these days. Plus it’s all contained in a pleasant tale that will gift you a smile on your face.”

Stay tuned for more suggested titles! You can see past suggested titles here.