KPBS today announced the 2017 One Book, One San Diego book selection, “The Sandcastle Girls” by Chris Bohjalian, the critically acclaimed novelist whose books frequently make the New York Times best-seller list.
“I am deeply honored by the selection,” Bohjalian said. “San Diego is a wonderful reading community. I’ve made appearances there off and on over the years, and I’ve always been dazzled by the bookstores and the libraries and the readers.”
One Book, One San Diego is a community-wide reading program in its 11th season and includes more than 20 community partners. Started in 2006 by KPBS, along with the San Diego Public Library, the program encourages everyone in the region to read and discuss the same book.
“These days it is very important for me to tell people that I am the grandson of two Middle Eastern immigrants,” Bohjalian said. “We are a nation of refugees and immigrants. The novel is set in Aleppo — yes, that Aleppo that has broken all of our hearts the last five years — and the city as it appears in the novel exists now only in romance and memory.”
The all-volunteer One Book Advisory Committee, comprised of literary experts, discussed the merits of 206 titles submitted by the public before choosing “The Sandcastle Girls.”
“It’s important to the committee that we choose a book of high literary quality that’s prime for discussions by all types of readers,” said One Book, One San Diego Program Manager Clare Pister. “This book is just right. It’s beautifully written and makes an important, rarely told piece of history accessible to a modern audience.”
Marc Chery, supervisor of humanities section at San Diego’s Central Library, said there are plenty of benefits to community reading.
“You’re taking part in a shared and privileged conversation with the author and with each other as readers,” he said.
KPBS General Manager Tom Karlo said that One Book is one of his favorite KPBS community engagement events.
“To have the opportunity to partner with The San Diego Union-Tribune, as they bring a book festival to San Diego, will help our effort to encourage more reading. We’re very excited about this opportunity and we’re looking forward to a partnership that will last many years.”
Linda Ball is a KPBS staff member.
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That is a loaded question because so many of my friends are writers and I never want to hurt their feelings. So I am going to rephrase the question and share with you the last great book I read by a writer I have never met. In fact, I will offer you two books. I absolutely loved “Fates and Furies” by Lauren Groff. And I was mesmerized by every word of “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles.
My first edition of “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” by Franz Werfe. It was a gift from my lovely bride.
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“The Coyote’s Bicycle” by Kimball Taylor
“Barbarian Days” by William Finnegan
“Homegoing” by Yaa Gyasi
“When the Moon is Low” by Nadia Hashimi
“Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic” by Sam Quinones
“The Mothers” by Britt Benett
“News of the World” by Paulette Jiles
“The Queen of Katwe” by Tim Crothers
2016: “Waiting for Snow in Havana” by Carlos Eire
2015: “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
2014: “Monstress” by Lysley Tenorio
2013: “Caleb’s Crossing” by Geraldine Brooks
2012: “Into the Beautiful North” by Luis Alberto Urrea, “Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert, “Sky of Red Poppies” by Zohreh Ghahremani
2011: “The Gangster We Are All Looking For” by lê thi diem thúy
2010: “Outcasts United” by Warren St. John
2009: “The Zookeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman
2008: “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson
2007: “Enrique’s Journey” by Sonia Nazario
2015: “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” by William Joyce, “It’s a Little Book” by Lane Smith
2014: “Cora Cooks Pancit” by Dorina Lazo Gilmore
2013: “Jingle Dancer” by Cynthia Leitich Smith
2012: “Armando and the Blue Tarp School” by Edith Hope Fine and Judith Pinkerton Josephson, “The Secret Message” by Mina Javaherbin
2015: “The Dumbest Idea Ever!” by Jimmy Gownley
2014: “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang