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lots will soon be cast not only for President, but also for the next Big Read title. Each spring, the Big Read invites Miami Valley residents to read and talk about the same book, which is chosen by popular vote.
Over the course of the summer, a selection committee of local librarians and volunteers narrowed an initial list of 48 titles down to four finalists. Votes can be cast at public libraries, academic libraries, Books & Co., or online at BigRead.org from September 12-October 23, 2016. The winning title will be announced at the end of October.
The four finalists for the 2017 Big Read are:
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters In the End by Atul Gawande
(Nonfiction) Gawande, a practicing surgeon, argues that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families of the terminally ill. Full of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, Being Mortal asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience, providing not only a good life but also a good end.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
(Memoir) In a bold and personal literary exploration of America’s racial history, Ta-Nehisi Coates has written a series of essays to his adolescent son, exploring both personal and historical events. From his analysis of the concept of race, to the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement, Coates sums up the history of black people in the United States.
Lock In by John Scalzi
(Science Fiction) Written by a Hugo Award-winning local author from Bradford and set in the not too distant future, a virus has swept the globe causing 1% of the world’s population to become “locked in” – fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. This is the background for a murder investigation that becomes something much more.
The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
(Biography) Drawing on nearly 1,000 letters of family correspondence plus diaries, notebooks and scrapbooks in the Library of Congress, McCullough tells the extraordinary American story of the two Dayton brothers who changed the world.
The Dayton Metro Library launched the Big Read in 2005 and it has been growing larger ever since.
“With the recent additions of Bradford Public Library and Wright State University, the Big Read now includes 11 public library systems and three academic libraries spread across eight counties, as well as a bookstore and a nonprofit literacy organization,” said Ben Murphy, Materials Selection Librarian at the Dayton Metro Library and co-chair of the Big Read. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to get people across the Miami Valley reading and talking about the same great book.”
Visit BigRead.org to cast your vote and get more information on the next Big Read, past Big Read books and scheduled activities. Voting closes October 23, 2016.
