Read St. Louis
 
 
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Read St. Louis is a community-wide initiave developed by St. Louis County and St. Louis Public Libraries to encourage St. Louisans to read and discuss books.

Click here to find out how you can be a part
of Read St. Louis.

It is an annual program, commencing
in 2009, that features different books and authors every year. At the core of the program is a belief that making reading fun, exciting and occasionally educational, will stimulate a passion for lifelong learning in all of us.

St. Louis County Library and St. Louis
Public Library will host events with each of the featured authors and a variety of programs and activities designed around each book.

Each year, Read St. Louis will showcase books selected by the two libraries from at least five distinct categories. In 2011, the categories are: classic fiction, modern fiction, non-fiction/memoir, young adult and children’s fiction.

 
Sponsors

Calendar:

 

Joyce Carol Oates, “A Widow’s Story”

Friday, March 4, 7:00 p.m.
St. Louis County Library Headquarters
Main Reading Room
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63131

One of America’s most critically acclaimed and prolific novelists, Joyce Carol Oates has written some of the most enduring fiction of our times including the national bestsellers “We Were the Mulvaneys” and “Blonde.”
            ”A Widow’s Story” is Oates’ poignant, intimate memoir about the unexpected death of her husband of 46 years and its surprising aftermath. Oates shares the denial, anguish, and disorientation of the survivor and the solace of friendship. Enlivened by the piercing vision and acute perception that are the hallmarks of her work, “A Widow’s Story” is a moving tale for anyone touched by love and grief.

Walter Mosley, “When the Thrill is Gone”

Saturday, March 12, 7:00 p.m.
St. Louis County Library Headquarters
Main Reading Room
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63131

Private Investigator Leonid McGill is back in Walter Mosley’s latest thriller. The economy has hit hard, and Leonid is only getting job offers from the criminals he’s tried to leave behind. So how can he say no to the beautiful woman holding a stack of cash? This isn’t a job he can turn away, even as he senses that sorting out her crooked tale will bring him straight to death’s door. “When the Thrill is Gone” is a classic noir detective story and Mosley’s most enthralling mystery to date.
            Walter Mosley is one of America’s most celebrated writers of literary suspense and the author of more than 34 critically acclaimed novels.


Lois Lowry, “The Giver”

Saturday, April 16, 2:00 p.m.
St. Louis Public Library
Schlafly Branch
225 N. Euclid Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63108

Lois Lowry’s groundbreaking novel about a futuristic utopian society received the Newbery Medal and has influenced generations of young readers.
            In “The Giver,” twelve-year-old Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal world. Not until he is given his life assignment as the Receiver of Memories, shared by only one other in his community, does he begin to understand the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. Adventurous and masterfully written, “The Giver” tackles complex issues such as the meaning of history, diversity, empowerment, and freedom.


David Finkel, “The Good Soldiers”

Thursday, June 16, 7:00 p.m.
St. Louis Public Library
Schlafly Branch
225 N. Euclid Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63108

Named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Times, David Finkel’s “The Good Soldiers” tells the story of the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers that led the 2007 surge into Iraq and returned fifteen months later forever changed. “The Good Soldiers” offers an apolitical, searing snapshot of a moment in time and turns the vague face of war into the individual faces of those affected the most. Finkel has established himself as one of the great truth-tellers of our time and produced an eternal story—not just of the Iraq war, but of all wars.
            Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Finkel is a staff reporter for The Washington Post.


Jonathan Franzen, “Freedom”

Saturday, October 15, 7:00 p.m.
St. Louis County Library Headquarters
Main Reading Room
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63131

In the most talked about novel in recent years, Jonathan Franzen presents an epic of contemporary marriage and love. “Freedom” combines comedy and tragedy in the story of ideal couple Patty and Walter Berglund struggling to learn how to live in an ever more confusing world. In charting the mistakes and joys of his characters, Franzen has produced an indelible and deeply moving portrait of our time.
            A St. Louis native, Jonathan Franzen is the author of three other novels including the contemporary classic and National Book Award-winner “The Corrections.”

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