2012 One City, One Story Selection

Pasadena Public Library’s 2012 One City, One Story Selection

People of the Book
by Geraldine Brooks

About Geraldine Brooks

A native Australian, Brooks attended Bethlehem College and the University of Sydney. Following graduation, she was a rookie reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald with a special interest in environmental issues and, after winning a Greg Shackleton Memorial Scholarship, moved to the United States, completing a master’s degree in journalism at Columbia University in 1983. The following year, she married American journalist Tony Horwitz and converted to Judaism. As a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, she covered crises in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans. In 1990 she and Horowitz received the Overseas Press Club’s Hal Boyle Award for Best Newspaper or Wire Service Reporting from Abroad for their coverage of the Persian Gulf. In 2006 she was awarded a fellowship to Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Brooks is the author of “Caleb’s Crossing,” “People of the Book,” “March,” “Year of Wonders” and the nonfiction works “Nine Parts of Desire” and “Foreign Correspondence.” She was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 for her novel “March.” Her first novel, “Year of Wonders,” is an international best seller and “People of the Book” is available in 20 languages. Her latest novel, “Caleb’s Crossing,” was published earlier this year.

She and Horowitz are the parents of two sons and divide their time between homes in Sydney and Martha’s Vineyard.

2012 Finalists

• Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón
• The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
• The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey by Walter Mosley
• Southland by Nina Revoyr
• Madonnas of Echo Park by Brando Skyhorse

2012 Selection Committee

• Brian Biery – Director of Community Organizing, Flintridge Center
• Rosemary Choate – President, Friends of the Caltech Libraries
• Kimberly Douglas – University Librarian, Caltech
• Brenda Galloway – Community Volunteer
• Sandy Greenstein – Volunteer, Friends of the Pasadena Public Library
• Sally Kousser – Retired Reference Librarian, Community Volunteer
• Fred Messick - Director of Marketing, Fuller Theological Seminary
• Christine Reeder – San Rafael and Lamanda Park Branch Manager, Pasadena Public Library
• Jan Sanders – Director of Libraries and Information Services, City of Pasadena
• Susan Schmid – Senior Account Manager, Sales & Marketing, Kaiser Permanente
• Amy Ulmer – Division Dean, English Division, PCC
• Jolly Urner – Founding Committee Member, Pasadena One City, One Story
• Larry Wilson – Public Editor, Pasadena Star-News
• Aquita Winslow-Tyler – Library Director, Polytechnic School 

One City, One Story Archive

Pasadena Public Library has hosted the One City, One Story program since 2002. Here are the most recent programs.

• One City, One Story 2011
• One City, One Story 2010
• Previous Book Selections and Nominees
  

Contact Us / Nominate a Book

• Contact OCOS or Nominate a Book

About One City, One Story

The idea of getting a community together to discuss a single book actually arose in Seattle and quickly spread across the US, coming to Pasadena in 2002. Since beginning, the Pasadena Public Library has hosted seven titles and with each presentation the list of collaborating organizations, firms, volunteers, and businesses grows.

The purpose of the series of discussions is just that: to discuss. We hope to begin a healthy, enlightening, interesting conversation among the people of Pasadena. The idea is not to agree, but to share thoughts and opinions. In sharing, we all learn.

Usually in late summer, about 15 community readers begin coming together to suggest titles for the next spring’s selection.

Criteria for selection include:

• The author should be living and able to come to Pasadena for a presentation
• If possible, the book or author should have some tie to Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley, or southern California
• The work should appeal to many members of society: women, men, teens, readers, non-readers, and so forth. The broader the appeal, the richer the discussion.
• The book should inspire a conversation; it should start people thinking and encourage the sharing of ideas.
• The book should have enough substance that it lends itself to a variety of programming possibilities.
• The book should be available in paperback and several other formats such as an ebook, in Spanish, as a CD (audiobook), and in large type.
  
• The goal is to have the selection made public in November, giving ample time for Pasadena residents to give the title as a holiday gift.

In March or April, the programs begin, with all sorts of cooperative sessions being offered. There are often book discussions throughout the community, in churches, stores, and libraries. Colleges and schools sponsor related events like panel discussions, art shows, concerts, or lectures. Everyone gets involved. In support, the Pasadena Public Library buys 200-300 copies of the book; usually the schools get another hundred or so, and Pasadena City College has many copies available for their students as well.

The Pasadena Public Library is very pleased to continue to present this strong community effort. We believe it creates a colorful and varied conversation, whether folks are talking about the book at the grocery store, at a soccer practice, before a church service, or over the back fence. And that’s what it’s all about: One City, One Story, many ideas.