“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
~ Mark Twain

Missouri’s ReadMOre announces 2010 selection at MLA conference

The statewide “one community, one book” program known as ReadMOre announced its 2010 selection at the Missouri Library Association’s annual conference on October 7th in Columbia.

In the upcoming centennial of Mark Twain’s death, ReadMOre will feature four colorful short stories spanning the career of Missouri’s famed American author and humorist. The following selected Twain stories may be found in one of several published short story anthologies, including but not limited to the Dover Thrift edition entitled Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories, the Bantam Classics edition titled The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain edited by Charles Neider, and The Signet Classic Book of Mark Twain’s Short Stories edited by Justin Kaplan.

- The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County
- The £1,000,000 Bank-Note
- The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg
- The Mysterious Stranger

Supported by the Missouri Humanities Council, ReadMOre engages libraries, schools, avid readers, private book clubs, booksellers and others in focusing their attention on a compelling piece of literature. Interested readers read the selection and have opportunities to attend book discussions and participate in associated programming hosted across the state in libraries and schools, and at book clubs and other organizations in March, April and May.

In 2010, the Missouri Humanities Council is proud to sponsor living history presenter George Frein, who will travel to ten selected towns. Selected communities may use Frein in character as Mark Twain, as a Twain scholar, or as Mark Twain, the ReadMOre discussion leader. Applications must be submitted by November 2, 2009.

The Council also supports ReadMOre and its many partners across the state with publicity, programming ideas, and this website where participants will find a downloadable discussion guide and colorful collateral materials to promote their ReadMOre program.

Have questions? Want to receive periodic ReadMOre information?

Contact us »

- We’ll put you on our mailing list.
- We’ll answer your questions.
- We welcome your creative programming ideas and feedback on ReadMOre.

Sara Nielson: St. Charles City/County Library, snielsen@stchlibrary.org
Jodie Borgerding: Emerson Library, Webster University, jborgerding80@webster.edu

“ReadMOre continues to reach into new communities across our state. Each year, more readers and more host organizations join the movement. What began as a promising idea has evolved into a healthy program with sustained energy. We look forward to having you join in this statewide reading celebration.”
~ Jodie Borgerding

Go to Calendar for current program »

Enthusiasm is building as Missourians collectively join in what has become an annual statewide reading celebration known as ReadMOre. This year, Jane Smiley’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, A Thousand Acres, has been selected as Missouri’s 2009 ReadMOre book.

ReadMOre engages libraries, schools, avid readers, private book clubs, booksellers and others to focus their attention on a single compelling piece of literature each Spring. Interested readers read the selection and have opportunities to attend book discussions hosted in libraries, schools and booksellers across the state. Everyone is invited to participate.

“In its 8th year, ReadMOre continues to reach into new communities across our state. Each year, more readers join the movement. What began as a promising idea has evolved into a healthy program with sustained momentum,” says Michael Bouman, executive director of the Missouri Humanities Council, the ReadMOre sponsor.

Jane Smiley appreciates Missouri’s ReadMOre concept. “Reading novels is not like any other activity – it develops your ability to think, to imagine things from someone else’s point of view, to learn new things, and experience privately that which gives you a sense of yourself.”

A Thousand Acres is a rich and absorbing story set in rural 1980’s Iowa, and surrounds the life of a successful Iowa farmer who divides his thousand-acre farm between his three daughters. A re-imagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear set in the late twentieth century American Midwest, A Thousand Acres takes on themes of gender roles, generational conflict, appearances vs. reality, and madness as well as truth, justice, love, and pride.

Jane Smiley grew up in Webster Groves, Missouri. She taught creative writing at Iowa State University for fifteen years before returning to her birth state, California, where she lives with her three children, three dogs and sixteen horses. In 2001, Smiley was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She has written ten works of fiction and authored many essays for prominent publications such as The New Yorker, Allure and Harper’s.

Recently, Smiley began a passionate campaign to resurrect a novel written by a Holden, Missouri native, Jetta Carleton. Moonflower Vine, Carleton’s sole novel, spent months on the New York Times bestseller list when it was originally published in 1962, then faded into obscurity. Smiley has helped to unearth and promote this book that has its roots in Missouri.

Learn about ReadMOre, A Thousand Acres and author Jane Smiley, and download a free Reader’s Guide at readmoremissouri.org.

To help kick off ReadMOre, Jane Smiley plans a series of appearances to speak about A Thousand Acres and Jetta Carleton’s Moonflower Vine, and sign copies of her books. Copies of A Thousand Acres and Moonflower Vine will be available at each event.

2009 events include:

Monday, April 6, 7pm
St. Louis Public Library
(Special Moonflower Vine presentation)
1301 Olive Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
314.206.6779
www.slpl.org

Tuesday, April 7, 7pm
Emerson Library
Webster University
101 Edgar Road
St. Louis, MO 63119
314.246.7819
www.webster.edu

Wednesday, April 8, 7pm
Columbia Public Library
100 West Broadway
Columbia, MO 65203
573.443.3161 (Reservations required)
www.dbrl.org

Thursday, April 9, 7pm
St. Charles City-County Library District
Kathryn Linnemann Library
2323 Elm St.
St. Charles, MO 63301
636.441.2300 x1519
www.youranswerplace.org

Go to Calendar for current program »