Saratoga Reads announces top choice

Saratogians swarmed to the ballot box last month, choosing the best-selling novel The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd as the Saratoga Reads book of choice for 2009.

Each year, Saratoga Reads invites area residents to vote on a book for community-wide reading and to develop and participate in a range of educational and cultural activities related to the book's themes. The program is a Skidmore College-Saratoga collaboration.

This year, a record 1,999 votes were cast based on a ballot of six books. The Secret Life of Bees secured 579 votes to emerge as the winner, followed by The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.

The other titles on the ballot were Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season by Jonathan Eig, The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver.

The Secret Life of Bees, set in the turbulent South of 1964, chronicles the story of a 14-year-old girl's search for the truth about her mother. The quest leads her to three beekeeping sisters who take her into their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and a mysterious black Madonna.

"We're really excited about the voter turnout and the community enthusiasm going into for our fifth year," said Tabitha Orthwein, coordinator of Saratoga Reads. "There are so many rich programming ideas associated with this novel, and I imagine we'll see an interesting range of activities for people of virtually all ages and interests." Orthwein envisions programming that explores apiary science and local apiaries, the civil rights movement nationally and in Saratoga Springs, and of course, some fine Southern cuisine.

Published in 2002, The Secret Life of Bees logged more than two years on the best-seller list of the New York Times and 145 weeks on the best-seller list Publishers Weekly. The novel has been released as a major motion picture starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, and Jennifer Hudson. Author Sue Monk Kidd has published four other books, including T he Mermaid Chair.

The Saratoga Reads Junior Action Group has selected Leon's Story by Leon Walter Tillage as this year's junior discussion book for grades 4-8. A complete list of recommended junior companion books will be available soon on the Saratoga Reads website.

Year five of Saratoga Reads will be officially launched at a kickoff book fair on Sunday, December 7, at Barnes & Noble in Wilton.

For more information go to www.saratogareads.org.