Public Vote to Determine Saratoga Reads Book of Choice
Public vote for book of choice begins November 1
Saratoga Reads, a community program designed to foster a shared reading experience,
has announced that of 138 novels nominated by the community, 10 have been chosen as
finalists for this year's book of choice.
The winning title will be decided by a public vote. Area residents have until November
15 to cast their ballots, and the book of choice will be announced during the week
of November 20.
The top 10 novels are Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros, Crow Lake by Mary Lawson, Empire Falls by Richard Russo, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, The Ha-Ha by Dave King, March by Geraldine Brooks, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Persuasion by Jane Austen, and Small Island by Andrea Levy.
Voting can be done online at www.saratogareads.org. In addition, ballot boxes are available at the Saratoga Springs Public Library,
Barnes & Noble in Wilton, Borders in Saratoga Springs, the Lyrical Ballad Bookstore,
Saratoga Springs High School, the Senior Center of Saratoga Springs, and Empire State
College. There are two voting locations on the Skidmore campus - Scribner Library
and the Skidmore Shop.
The community will be encouraged to read the selected novel and to develop and participate
in a host of educational and cultural activities related to the book's themes.
A selection action group, made up of a cross section of the community, reviewed the
138 titles nominated by the public. The group determined the top list based on each
book's ability to spark discussion and community programming, and on the quality of
writing and appeal to a range of interests and age groups.
A Skidmore College-Saratoga collaboration, Saratoga Reads is now in its third year.
In the first year, the novel that was selected by the community was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and for the second year it was Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.
For more information, www.saratogareads.org.
Saratoga Reads Top 10
- Caramelo, Sandra Cisneros: Caramelo is a vibrant and riotous cultural fiesta that follows three generations of a Mexican-American family through the dramas, both large and small, of everyday life. This sweeping family saga and social history overflows with music, food, truths, lies, and fantasy as it honors the universality of the immigrant experience. As the narrator, Celaya, explains, "Life was cruel. And hilarious all at once." In this very funny and affecting novel, Celaya learns to celebrate and appreciate the family who aggravates her but ultimately saves her.
- Crow Lake, Mary Lawson: Crow Lake is set in a small farming community in northern Ontario. Orphaned by a tragic accident, the four Morrison children - ages 1 1/2 to 19 - persevere on their own against all odds. We see them grieving while they struggle to earn a living, stay in school, and care for a toddler. Then we jump ahead in time and meet them again as young adults. At the heart of this book is the lake, where little Kate and older brother Matt, a passionate young scientist with a glowing future, pass many happy hours studying aquatic life. This is a story of loss, loyalty, and dreams sacrificed in the name of love.
- Empire Falls, Richard Russo: Rich, humorous, and elegantly constructed, this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel is set in Empire Falls, a small Maine town with a glorious past and a dubious future. Protagonist Miles Roby manages the failing Empire Grill, owned by the Whiting family, the family whose "empire" includes most of the town. The Whitings' "fall" unfolds character by character, incident by incident, year by year. Dealing with devotion, divorce, and devastation, Russo's blue-collar characters mirror humanity at its best and worst. If you seek hilarity and heartache, a compelling story, rich subplots, and unexpected but completely believable story lines, Empire Falls will fulfill your every expectation.
- Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley: Everyone knows Frankenstein, but if you haven't read Mary Shelley's classic masterpiece, you're in for both a surprise and a treat. You'll be captivated, touched, and enlightened by the story of Victor Frankenstein and his struggles with his own creation, the monster that bears his name in numerous film adaptations. You'll discover why the story of Frankenstein has become a staple of popular culture and why it has haunted our imaginations for nearly 200 years, as we may have been, like Victor Frankenstein, haunted by the consequences of our own actions.
- The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck: This novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 for its wrenching portrait of an America still recovering from the Great Depression and face-to-face with itself in a startling, lyrical way. Steinbeck's magnificent descriptions of American landscapes, his expert use of everyday speech, and masterful storytelling bring to vivid life the plight of one poor migrant family. We follow the Joads on their trek from the Oklahoma dust-bowl, where they were forced off their land, to the migrant camps of California, where they are treated as something less than human. Controversial and even shocking when first published, the book continues to address us pointedly, posing fundamental questions about justice, the ownership and stewardship of the land, the role of government, power, unions, and the foundations of capitalist society.
- The Ha-Ha, Dave King: The unforgettable narrator of Dave King's novel returns home from Vietnam unable to speak, read, or write. When his former girlfriend goes into rehab and asks Howie to take care of her 9-year-old son, Ryan, Howie's life is transformed by the joys, challenges, and responsibilities of parenthood and by his deepening relationship with Ryan. Especially noteworthy for its vivid characterizations, The Ha-Ha is illuminating, poignant, and even funny. The frustrations of the main character to be understood, accepted, and loved when incapable of traditional modes of communication form the basis of a narrative told entirely from his viewpoint. Watch for the film coming from the team that created "A Beautiful Mind."
- March, Geraldine Brooks: Winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize, this novel takes as its point of departure the missing story of Mr. March from Little Women, chronicling his journey as a minister to the Union troops during the Civil War as he discovers his own naivete and vulnerability and that doing what is right is complicated. Whether you have read Little Women or don't remember it, you will be thoroughly engaged by the beautifully crafted first-person narrative that enables you to experience both March's distress and that of those he loves, waiting for him at home.
- The Namesake, Jhumpa Lahiri: Exploring the lives of one Indian-American family, Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri portrays in The Namesake a universal dilemma - when our world view differs from that of our parents, how do we reconcile forging our own identity with loyalty to family? The Namesake is a beautifully crafted depiction of that human conflict, symbolized in a naming tradition, which reveals the cultural resonance of food, clothing, and ceremonies for each of us, whatever our backgrounds may be, recent immigrant or fifth-generation American.
- Persuasion, Jane Austen: Set in the English spa city of Bath, known for history, health, and high society (rather than horses), Jane Austen's last completed, and some would say most mature, novel has been adapted for film at least three times. Persuasion sets the delicious though delayed romance of Anne Elliott and Frederick Wentworth, struggling to both avoid and return to their earlier love, against the sour bankruptcy - both literally and morally - of their antagonists. Portraying a culture at a moment of transition when the upper gentry wears the "emperor's new clothes" while an exuberant, rising middle class of Navy men seems destined to take over, Persuasion offers the best of Austen's brilliant, witty dialogue and alternately sensitive or scathing characterizations. Whether you are devoted to Jane Austen or haven't read her yet, Persuasion offers fresh delights.
- Small Island, Andrea Levy: Winner of the 2004 Whitbread Book of the Year award, Small Island is the story of two couples, one Jamaican and one English, told from their points of view, whose paths cross in post-WWII England. Profoundly moving, the novel explores with warmth, humor and humaneness the themes of war, race, colonialism, migration, love and prejudice. To meet Hortense, Gilbert, and their white landlady, Queenie, is to know them as we seldom know even ourselves. You'll find this a beautiful novel and a compelling read.
