Three novels top One Read list

[Note: this story has been modified since its original posting.]

Would you rather read about a feisty woman who travels across Missouri to Lawrence, Kan., or about growing up in two different cultures? What about a book showing class differences between the California rich and illegal immigrants?

That’s the question the One Read program is asking Columbia residents to answer.

“We ask the whole community to read the same book at the same time,” said Sally Abromovich, co-chairwoman of the program.

The Daniel Boone Regional Library is using the program to encourage leisure reading and promote discussion among Columbia residents, Abromovich said.

“Our hope is that people all over town will be reading this book and you’ll go to work in the morning and ask your coworker, are you reading the One Read book? Then you’ll have a discussion,” said Abromovich.

Doyne McKenzie, co-chairwoman of the program, said, “It brings the community together. It creates a community within a community.”

The One Read program starts with the public suggesting books. A reading panel narrows the number down to 10 or 12 books. The panel reads these books, then narrows the selection down to three semifinalists.

The first semifinalist book is “The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton” by Jane Smiley. Abromovich said she thinks that it’s a great book because of the geography of the book. “It actually takes place in Quincy, Ill. A strong female character travels by steamboat to Missouri then goes to Lawrence, Kan. ... It’s a wonderful book about a strong female character leading up to the Civil War time,” Abromovich said.

The second book is “The Language of Baklava” by Diana Abu-Jaber. It’s about a young woman whose father is from Jordan and the woman grows up in two different cultures.

The third book chosen is “Tortilla Curtain” by T.C. Boyle.

“This is a very timely book because it talks about immigration reform. It’s about two families, one that lives in an upper-class neighborhood in California and another about a couple that are illegal immigrants,” Abromovich said, “Tortilla Curtain” was chosen as the freshman read at MU this fall.

Now it’s the public’s turn to get involved. Voting is open from April 3 through 14 for the 2006 One Read book at any branch of the library system, 9th Street Bookstore, Barnes & Noble, Nancy’s Trade-A-Book, Calhoun’s, Pen Point, or online at oneread.dbrl.org/.

Abromovich said that the reading panel will spend until the first of June planning activities. They will announce the selected book in June and give the public the summer to read it. The program will begin in September.

When the programs starts, there will be book discussions and a panel of experts in the subject matter the book covers. The panel will talk about what Columbia is doing to address the issues the book raises, Abromovich said.

“We try to have something fun that ties into the book,” she said.

In the past the library has brought the author of the One Read book to Columbia and hopes to do so again this year.