Dear Friends,
On behalf of the City of Austin, I would like to invite you to participate in the eighth annual Mayor’s Book Club and Keep Austin Reading program presented by the Austin Public Library. This is my last year as your mayor, and I would like to personally thank all of you who have participated and joined our reading campaign for these past seven years. It’s been a fun-filled experience for me and for my office, and I know we will continue to participate in our citywide campaign to Keep Austin Reading.
As you may know the Mayor’s Book Club is designed to bring readers together from throughout our community to create a citywide book club. This year, we have selected The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer. The Septembers of Shiraz, the debut novel for Sofer, is deeply rooted in the world of her childhood and the life and culture she left behind in Iran. The story tells the tale of a family that flees Iran during the Iranian revolutionary war after their father was imprisoned. In selecting this title we felt that the subject matter was timely because of the challenges the world faces with the middle east and in particular with Iran. Additionally, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Shah of Iran. Sofer has received accaldades for her novel and has won the Whitting Writers’ Award. It is a national bestseller and has been selected as The New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
The Septembers of Shiraz is available at all Library locations and area bookstores. We invite all Austinites to read the book over the next few months and we ask you to join together and discuss the book at your local library in April. The University of Texas Humanities Institute will unite with the Austin Public Library, for the eighth consecutive year, to assist with activities and discussion groups about the book. We will host the author in a free, public event on Friday, April 24, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
Please take part in one of the many Keep Austin Reading book discussions and special programs planned at our local public libraries in April. Join us in reading this year’s book selection! Thank you for participating in the Mayor’s Book Club and our Keep Austin Reading program.
Regards,
Will Wynn
Mayor
Visit our previous Mayor's Book Club resource guides online:
2008: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
2007: Around The Bloc by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
2006: The Devil's Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
2005: Writing Austin's Lives by Metro Austin Residents
2004: All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
2003: Holes by Louis Sachar
2002: Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
To view what other cities across the country are reading visit
The Center for the Book
