Here are highlights from North Reading Reads 2003:
- "Last Chapter," November 6th, 2003, the final event of North Reading Reads, celebrating John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley In Search of America was a wonderful community event. Thank you to Gather Marano and all her students for the readings and music they provided. Thank you also to Bob Ward, Diane Norris, Marci Bailey, and Klaus Kubierschky.
Here's what some participants shared with us about their experiences:
- Adrienne Callahan: "I felt that the North Reading Reads project was a good way to meet people. It strengthens the community by bringing together people who might not meet otherwise, from teenagers to elderly, long-time residents, to newcomers, from many different professions and backgrounds. When people get together to discuss a book, it's as if they've shared an experience, and as if they know a group of people in common and it immediately gives people something to talk about. When you read a book, you're listening to a monolog, it's just you and your reactions. By sharing what you've read, you can learn from it, learn other ways of being."
- Mark Meehl:"I found out that John Steinbeck was very interesting. It was interesting to learn more about a famous personality. The "Last Chapter" was excellent. It was nice to have inter-generational reaction, to meet some of the young people and their teachers, to hear them sing and read. The readings were a highlight and the music was enjoyable. The home-baked goodies were delightful. I liked the idea that you could make new friends and meet new people, who had something in common to talk about."
- Diane Norris: "North Reading Reads provided us with an opportunity to share thoughts and insights about a book specifically because we are members of the same community. That common denominator let high school students hear retired citizens talk about life in the United States fifty years ago, let young mothers express outrage about civil rights violations that older mothers remembered, and gave inspiration to singers and pianists for enjoyment by readers. The library supported and encouraged community--a basic part of its mission."
NORTH READING READS 2003 SPONSERS
Thank you to our North Reading Reads sponsors:
- Reading Co-operative Bank
- Starlite Car Wash
- The Andover Bookstore
- Carr's-Hallmark
- Reading Eye Associates
- Quill
- Shaw's Supermarket
- Stop & Shop
- WAL*MART
- Winter Hill Bank
- The Friends of the Flint Memorial Library
Calling all book groups! Would your book group would like to read and discuss Travels with Charley? A discussion guide is available. Please contact the Reference Department if you would like a copy. We'd also like to be a clearinghouse for local book groups, so that someone new to town looking for a book group will be able to find contact information.
NORTH READING READS 2003 ORGANIZERS:
North Reading High School
Flint Memorial Library
North Reading Book Discussion Club
Friends of the Flint Memorial Library
FACTS
ABOUT JOHN STEINBECK
Born: February 27,1902; 132 Central Avenue,
Salinas, CA
Graduated from Salinas High School--June 1919
Attended Stanford University--1919-1925
Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature, 1962
Died in New York, December 20,1968
As you read, consider these questions:
**How has the country changed since Steinbeck's
1960 trip?
**What are some of the predictions Steinbeck makes? Have they come
true?
**Where would you go today to find America?
**What could you learn on a road trip that you couldn't learn in
your own backyard?
**Would you have wanted to take this trip with Steinbeck?
Other Books About the Road:
Travels with a Donkey by Robert Louis Stevenson
On the Road by Charles Kuralt
Blue Highways: A Journey Into America by William Least
Heat Moon
Old Glory by Jonathan Raban
Royal Road to Romance by Richard Halliburton
Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin
Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux
Tales of a Female Nomad by Rita Gelman
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert
Pirsig
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
From the library's Local History Room: Ocean
to Ocean in a Model A Ford by Robert L. Parker, in which a long-time
resident of North Reading describes his cross country trip by automobile
in 1933. The book was published in 1987.
What other books were considered for North Reading Reads 2003?
The two finalists were Girl with a Pearl Earring by
Tracy Chevalier and Plainsong by Kent Haruf.
Other titles also considered were The Water Is Wide
by Pat Conroy, The Orchard by Adele Crockett Robertson,
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, Tomorrow When the
War Began by John Marsden, Rag and Bone Shop by Robert
Cormier,
Here and Nowhere Else by Jane Brox.
Have you read Travels with Charley in Search of America?
What did you think of it? Tell us about your favorite
road trip.
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