books and reading

 

Can't get enough stories about literature and people who create and distribute it? Explore the following titles that touch on topics like the importance of books and libraries, the hidden lives of authors and librarians, and more.

How to read a book by Kwame Alexander
Also available in: e-audiobook

A poetic and beautiful journey about the experience of reading. Begins with planting oneself beneath a tree and leads to a book party one hopes will never end.

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
Also available in: e-book | audiobook | e-audiobook | video | e-video

A celebration of making your home with the things you always carry: your resilience, your dreams, your hopes and history. It's the story of finding your way in a new place, where one beacon of hope and support is the local library.

The Great American Read wraps up tonight with the reveal of the book that was voted America's favorite.

Kicking off in May, this eight part documentary series hosted by Meredith Viera looked at 100 of America's best-loved novels. The PBS series explored the authors behind the novels, the role in which the titles shaped America, and offered testimonials from celebrities and other book lovers.

Approximately 7,200 people participated in the initial selection of the 100 titles, and participants were then encouraged to vote to narrow down the list first down to 40, then down to 10. The list contains a broad range of fictional titles, authors, time periods, countries, genres and subject matter.

The Great American Read is an eight-part documentary series on PBS that celebrates the power of reading. The series will examine 100 of America's best-loved novels, chosen through a national survey. The series kicks off with a two-hour episode on Tuesday May 22, at 8:00 pm and continues with one-hour episodes focused on different themes found in books on the list. The sixth and final episode, airing in October, will reveal the results of a nationwide vote to select America's best loved novel. The series will feature interviews with authors, celebrities, and regular people - book lovers of all stripes!  

 

All 100 books on the list are available - either on our shelves or via MeL. You may also ask a librarian for help finding any of the books on the list - we're happy to do so! 

 

Voting begins online at PBS.com and via social media   (#GreatReadPBS) with the premier on May 22nd and continues throughout the summer. Starting in the fall, viewers will also be able to vote via text messaging and by calling a toll-free number (which will be announced later). 

 

We hope you'll get involved in this national conversation about books and reading!

Follow the links below for additional information. 

Get the List: America's 100 Most-Loved Books

Quiz: How Many of the 100 Have You Read?

Preview the Show: Watch the Trailer 

Vote for the Most-Loved Book (starting 5/22): The Great American Read

From the author of A. Lincoln, a major new biography of one of America's greatest generals--and most misunderstood presidents In his time, Ulysses S. Grant was routinely grouped with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in the "Trinity of Great American Leaders." But the battlefield commander-turned-commander-in-chief fell out of favor in the twentieth century. In American Ulysses, Ronald C. White argues that we need to once more revise our estimates of him in the twenty-first.  Grant was not only a brilliant general but also a passionate defender of equal rights in post-Civil War America. After winning election to the White House in 1868, he used the power of the federal government to battle the Ku Klux Klan. He was the first president to state that the government's policy toward American Indians was immoral, and the first ex-president to embark on a world tour, and he cemented his reputation for courage by racing against death to complete his Personal Memoirs . 

Also available in: e-book

We may love books, but do we know what lies behind them? In The Book, Keith Houston reveals that the paper, ink, thread, glue, and board from which a book is made tell as rich a story as the words on its pages--of civilizations, empires, human ingenuity, and madness. In an invitingly tactile history of this 2,000-year-old medium, Houston follows the development of writing, printing, the art of illustrations, and binding to show how we have moved from cuneiform tablets and papyrus scrolls to the hardcovers and paperbacks of today. Sure to delight book lovers of all stripes with its lush, full-color illustrations, The Book gives us the momentous and surprising history behind humanity's most important--and universal--information technology.

"While working at the Newark Star-Ledger, Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall created a popular column debating the merits of then-current television. Eventually they went on to successful careers as critics elsewhere, but the debate raged on and now comes to an epic conclusion in TV (THE BOOK). Alan and Matt have established The Pantheon of top TV shows using a complex, obsessively all-encompassing ranking system by which to order and stack them up against each other. With a mix of lively entries on critically acclaimed and commercially successful classics such as Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Star Trek, The Simpsons and Twin Peaks and illuminating essays on short-lived favorites such as Taxi, Freaks and Geeks, and My So-Called Life, TV (THE BOOK) is sure to spark conversation and debate among readers. TV (THE BOOK) is a must-have for long-time television and film buffs and for young enthusiasts who, fresh off their latest Netflix binge, are looking to expand their knowledge of the medium and wondering what show to start streaming next"--.

Children's Books to Love

From board books, to pictures books, to chapter books, it's is so hard to choose? Here are some children's books that we love and we hope you will too!

Board Books

Story time for Lamb by Michael Dahl; illustrated by Oriol Vidal Pastor

At the beach by Salina Yoon

Funny feet by Liesbet Slegers

Spot's hide and seek by Eric Hill

Ten black dots by Donald Crews

Blackout

This story begins on a normal day. Everyone is busy, no one has time to play with the little boy, until the Blackout! Once it goes dark, the family goes on a hunt for the light, and when they find it, they discover a whole lot more! Check out this picture book about one family that discovers how much fun it is to spend time with each other. You might even be inspired to have your own family "blackout!" If you liked Blackout, here are some other stories by John Rocco.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

April is National Kite Month and we want to share this spring fun with you. At this program on Tuesday, April 12 at 7 p.m., you will be able to make a simple craft to take home and enjoy on those windy spring days. Families with children ages 4-9 can attend this program funded by the Target Store Early Childhood Reading Grant and the Friends of the Canton Public Library. Program includes stories, games and snacks. Participants receive a free book. Register today for this fun, family program.

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