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The deadline for voting for your favorite for the 2010 One Book – One Lincoln is nearly up…you’ve got four more days to cast your vote for the titles you’d like to see us base special programming events and discussion groups around. Turn in your vote online or at your local library by the end of the day on July 31st.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for more good reading suggestions, just wait until Monday, August 2nd — we’ll announce the other 7 titles that made it into the 2010 “Top Twelve”!
Last week, I finished “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” by Muriel Barbery, one of the One Book One Lincoln finalists.
And an interesting novel, it is. The story is told in two voices. One is Renee, the concierge of a Paris apartment building, and the other is Paloma, a twelve-year-old girl living in one of the apartments.
Both of them lead secret lives of intellectual engagement. Paloma’s revelation that she intends to commit suicide lends an air of urgency to the story. Their rich interior lives may not be to everyone’s taste. Renee’s contemplations of writers and artists and Paloma’s thoughts regarding the role of grammar (a way to attain beauty) may seem a tad too philosophical. I found that when I switched my expectation of the pace of the story to accommodate their ruminations, I enjoyed them.
The rhythm of their building changes when, for the first time in decades, one of the apartments is put up for sale. The new owner, Mr. Ozu, displays a knack for seeing into people, and does so in the most kind and gracious ways. He shows Renee and Paloma possibilities for outright intellectual engagement, combined with friendship. I began to feel a sense of hope for all of them.
But I will not “spoil” the ending by describing it here.
I can see why the selection committee brought this forward. The writing works. The voices are distinct. The characters stand out from one another. We come to respect (most of) those characters. That this is a translation from the original French increases my respect.
Have you read any of the One Book One Lincoln finalists? What have you thought so far? Have you voted for your choice yet? As ever, the best thing about One Book One Lincoln is the swirl of community conversation about books–let’s talk!
I’ve been thrilled by the public response to our announcement of the One Book One Lincoln finalists.
People have also had good things to say about a twist to this year’s program–readers get to vote on the winner. Please do vote for your selection during June and July. We’ll announce the winner in mid-September.
As I’ve noted in previous entries, I heartily recommend that you acquire a reading “discipline” (I’m wishing for a more fun word for this) such as always reading the Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel, or the Edgar Award winner, or…the five One Book One Lincoln finalists. Summer’s a great time to set this in motion, and One Book One Lincoln a fine motivator.
The best part of One Book One Lincoln, to my mind, is the community conversation that swirls all around it. Please do read at least one of the books, and then starting talking…or join the conversation on Facebook or on our website.
So far, I’ve read “Finding Nouf” by Zoe Ferraris and “Loving Frank” by Nancy Horan. I recommend them both. I tend to remember single images more than I recall the flow of the narrative. In “Finding Nouf,” I’ll keep an image of the man who helps to track her, a desert tracker who remembers footprints like most of us remember faces. I can’t see a footprint now without remembering him. In “Loving Frank,” I’ll remember when Mamah reads the letter telling about the death of a beloved friend, and how a stranger helps her in her distress.
What do you remember? And what do you think of our finalists? Let’s talk!
We’re at eleven days and counting until the announcement of the Five Finalists for the 2010 One Book – One Lincoln!
Even though the libraries will be closed for the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, May 31st, you can still join in the One Book celebration by attending the public announcement at The Mill in the Haymarket (8th & “P”), at 10:00 a.m. that morning. Be one of the first to find out what five titles will be vying for the city-wide community reading project’s focus this year.
And…for the first time, the public will be invited to vote on which of the Five Finalists they’d like to see as the selected title for 2010. Watch for your voting opportunities soon after the titles have been announced!
What will the Five Finalists be? Will one of your suggestions make the list? Stay tuned to find out more!
We’re only about two months away from the announcement of the five 2010 One Book One Lincoln finalists! The committee has narrowed the list to 40 titles, and the five finalists should be announced in June. While we’re waiting, here’s a question for all of you:
Of the 40 past OBOL finalists (available as a booklist on BookGuide), which has been your all-time favorite?