London readers (and others), you may well know of Cityread already, but it's new to me.
In a nutshell, it's a London-wide book group and literature festival which runs for a month annually, and aims to get everyone reading a chosen novel.
This May's book is The Muse by Jessie Burton, and past titles - each set in the city - include Ben Aaranovitch's Rivers of London, Prophecy by S.J. Parris, and Sebastian Faulks's A Week in December.
The typical programme of related events, as the video shows, is extensive, imaginative, and aims to reach as wide a readership as possible, all of which is to be commended.
I certainly can recommend the book Rivers of London. Especially if you, like me, are interested to trace on the surface the routes of our many "lost rivers".
Posted by: Dark Puss | 19 February 2018 at 09:37 PM
That does appeal; thanks, DP.
Posted by: Cornflower | 20 February 2018 at 07:35 AM
My neighborhood in Boston has done a group read twice. The first time, the library "Friends" formed a committee of about 7. Everyone nominated 2-3 books and we weeded it down to 5-6. We agreed we would all read the nominees. I was the only person who actually did (which did not surprise me). One of my suggestions, Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, I had liked a lot and also thought it might attracted both older teens and those interested in WWII historical fiction or history. However, two women were afraid it would be confused with Shades of Gray and wouldn't even read it.
We eventually chose a nonfiction book about Boston's Gardner Museum heist. We had a week or more of themed events and the book discussion attracted about 40 people. I thought we could have done a lot better with the right book but I do realize it is hard to please everyone. The second time we did it the librarian chose the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird without consulting us. I did not approve of picking a hardcover, let alone a book that got such mixed reviews.
We do it every two years so the spring of 2019 will be our next.
Posted by: CLM | 22 March 2018 at 04:51 AM
Yes, it is hard to please everybody!
Like you I'm surprised at the choice of Go Set A Watchman given the controversy surrounding it and the deep feelings so many have for TKAM.
Posted by: Cornflower | 22 March 2018 at 04:46 PM