Category Archives: Common Reads Programs

Christina Baker Kline, author of Orphan Train, on the Power of Community Reading

By bicadmin | Published: November 21, 2013

We recently sat down with New York Times bestselling author, Christina Baker Kline. Her novel Orphan Train is about a young Irish immigrant who, as a child, is sent away from New York on a train that regularly transported unwanted and abandoned children from the East Coast to the farmlands of the Midwest. Moving between contemporary Maine and Depression-era Minnesota, Orphan Train is a powerful tale of upheaval and resilience. The novel (which is the authors fifth work of fiction) was selected as a Target book club pick, has held steady on 5 national bestseller lists, and has just gone to print for the fifth time!

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Featured Venue: SOKY Reads & Book Festival

By bicadmin | Published: November 21, 2013

Like many of our clients, Kristie Lowry, Library Outreach Coordinator the West Kentucky University Libraries and coordinator for the Southern Kentucky Book Fest, wears more than one hat! She shared some of her experiences in arranging events for a book festival, community reads program, and library author events.

BIC: Any idea about how many literary events / festivals you’ve done over the years?

KL: Counting the 2014 Southern Kentucky Book Fest that I’m currently planning, I’ve worked on six book festivals, six community reading projects, six used book sales, and countless other author visits. I also help with the administrative aspect of two literary awards-the Kentucky Literary Award and the Evelyn Thurman Young Readers Book Award.

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Black History Month: Celebrate with Award-Winning Authors

By bicadmin | Published: November 21, 2013

With February right around the corner, it’s a great time to think about adding an author event to your programming for Black History Month. Here are a few wonderful authors, with award-winning titles we’ve been recommending.

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Richardson Reads Draws Almost 1,500 Participants, Best Program in 10 Year History!

By bicadmin | Published: October 9, 2013

Richardson Texas packed the house last month for a visit from Markus Zukas, international bestselling author of The Book Thief. With almost 1,500 participants over three events, the Richardson Reads event as universally acknowledged by the event organizers as the best program in its 10 year history!

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Welcome Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black

By bicadmin | Published: September 6, 2013

A big welcome to Piper Kerman, author (and ex-con) of Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. Following a plea deal for a 10-year-old crime, Piper Kerman spent a year in the infamous women’s correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, which she found to be no “Club Fed.” In Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman takes readers into B-Dorm, a community of colorful, eccentric, vividly drawn women. Her memoir, which has been adapted into an original television series for Netflix, is compelling, moving, and often hilarious. With many teachable moments that emphasize the justice system, codes of behavior, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance, Orange is the New Black is an ideal selection for All Campus and Community Reads. And Piper Kerman is an engaging and lively presenter!

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Young Adult Version of Sonia Nazario’s Enrique’s Journey Now Available

By bicadmin | Published: September 4, 2013

With an estimated one million children living illegally in the United Stated, and nearly one in four of the nation’s elementary school students of immigrant status, Pulitzer Prize winner Sonia Nazario’s moving tale of one boy’s journey has met widespread acclaim and become a national bestseller. In Enrique’s Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunited With His Mother, Sonia Nazario’s compelling story has been adapted for a younger audience. The YA version contains a new epilogue, updating readers on where Enrique is today, and on his life since his story become national news. With the immigration raging as a hot-button political issue, Enrique’s Journey brings to light the daily struggles of immigrants, legal and otherwise, and the complicated choices they face to survive.

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Richardson Reads One Book – 1200 Tickets Distributed for The Book Thief

By bicadmin | Published: August 21, 2013

Richardson Reads One Book, a community reads program in Richardson Texas, is gearing up for the author reading of The Book Thief – an international bestseller and the basis of a soon-to-be released feature film. Readers in Richardson are so excited about their One Book selection, they snatched up the 1200 complimentary tickets in less than a day and a half! “The weeping and wailing of the procrastinators can be heard for miles,” says Susan Allison, the program coordinator. 2013 is sure to be a great year!

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Bee Ridgeway Interviewed: The River of No Return is “adventure, romance and all sorts of other shenanigans”

By bicadmin | Published: July 10, 2013

Bee Ridgeway, author of The River of No Return, sat down with UK entertainment website “Female First,” to discuss her new book in a fascinating interview that covers the inspiration behind Bee Ridgeway’s characters, the historical research she conducted, and what she’s working on next. When asked about how she would describe The River of […]

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Something in Common

By bicadmin | Published: February 20, 2013
Dawn Stuart

Welcome to Books In Common, from Director Dawn Stuart

For more than a decade I’ve chatted with thousands of literary event planners. From Community Reads committee chairs, to All Campus/Freshman Class Reads staff, to Literary Festival organizers, and beyond, I’ve been part of the process. I’ve helped select book titles that work for a particular type of event and community. I’ve supplied information on speaking fees and author schedules, and organized the details of the author’s visit. Every person and venue is unique, but we all have something in common: we’re passionate about books and inspiring more people to read and share their literary experience with others.

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Nancy Pearl and the history of Community Reads Programs

By bicadmin | Published: February 20, 2013
Nancy Pearl

How do we bring together people of diverse backgrounds, politics, interests, and lifestyles when all they share is a common city? Librarian Nancy Pearl tried using a book. It worked, and the idea spread around the country (as good ideas tend to do).

What began with a simple “If All Seattle Read the Same Book” in 1998 has developed into a national phenomenon. Libraries, colleges, towns, schools, and even states now host Books In Common type programs.

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