EAST LANSING, Mich. — The East Lansing-MSU One Book, One Community (OBOC) Committee is in the process of selecting the book for the 2019 OBOC program and wants to hear from the community.
Three books are on the Committee’s short list and are being considered for this year’s program. They include:
- “Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America” by Beth Macy
The journalist and author of this eye-opening New York Times and indie bestseller illustrates the beginning of the national opioid crisis and how it has persisted in America for the past 20 years. - “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” by Matthew Desmond
This “vivid and unsettling” book (New York Review of Books) shines a light on America’s housing crisis by following eight families in Milwaukee, Wisc., as they struggle to keep a roof over their heads. It was the winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. - “The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row” by Anthony Ray Hinton
Hinton’s instant New York Times bestseller chronicles his thirty years of living on death row after being wrongfully imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Hinton won his release from prison in 2015.
Community members can share which book interests them most by taking a brief survey available here: https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cMdzPIUTyE9ijTD. The survey will closed on Friday, Feb. 8 at 11:59 p.m.
“We’re excited to involve the community in the process of selecting this year’s book,” said East Lansing Public Library Director Kristin Shelley. “We have narrowed it down to three extraordinary books and are now looking to the community for their feedback. The results of this survey will help guide us in our decision.”
The One Book, One Community program encourages the East Lansing-Michigan State University community to read the same book and come together to explore its themes and issues at a variety of campus and community events each fall. The selected book is widely read on and off campus and is a required reading for all incoming freshmen. The highlight of the program is the visit by the author(s) to the community in the fall. OBOC is one of the first community reading programs to bring together the students of a major university and the residents of its surrounding community. Learn more about OBOC at www.onebookeastlansing.com.