Have you heard about the Great American Read?
The Great American Read is an eight-part series on PBS that explores America’s 100 favorite books. These were chosen through a national survey. The first episode was on PBS in May, but it can still be watched at pbs.org. I’ve watched it twice and from it made a list of books I want to read that I haven’t read before. I had read 40 of the 100 books.
In the PBS series, you will hear celebrities, authors and book lovers talking about their favorite books. Between now and October, we can also go online to pbs.org and vote for our favorite from the 100 books. We can vote daily and vote for as many of the books as we want to. I’ve already voted several times for some of my favorites. In the fall, PBS will announce which book is America’s most loved novel.
Although here at the Dade Public Library we knew nothing about the Great American Read when our Book Club selected our books to read this year, we just happened to have chosen two of the 100 books, The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. We’ve already discussed The Handmaid’s Tale, but we’ll be talking about Their Eyes Were Watching God in September and we welcome anyone who would like to join us in discussing this book. Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., who hosts the TV show Finding Your Roots, gave a passionate speech about this book on the Great American Read, which made me really want to read it.
Find the list of 100 books on the PBS website, vote for your favorite books and watch the first episode of the Great American Read. We will have more information on this later. I’ve already voted for some of my favorites, so I will recommend them today: To Kill a Mockingbird, the Harry Potter series and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. These are all fantastic reads! Come check them out.
Summer Reading kicks off at the library next Thursday, June 7, with our Lego Expo. If you haven’t signed your kids up yet, go to our website at chrl.org and look for the Summer Reading icon. Pick up your bag of materials at the library.
Our children’s programs for the month of June are as follows:
June 7 – Kickoff and LEGO Expo
June 14 – Rock City Fairytales
June 21 – Ken Scott, Magician
June 28 – Animal Encounter with Reflection Riding Arboretum
Our Teen programs for June:
June 13 – Coffeehouse Trivia
June 20 – Board Game Day
June 27 – VR Gaming
When you come in, ask us about our activities for Adult Summer Reading as well.
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