2022 One Book choice
About the book
The winning title, “The Life We Bury”, tells the story of Joe Talbert who had avoided doing his college English class assignment until it was almost too late. Interviewing an old person about his life didn’t sound all that interesting. Who cared? He had enough trouble dealing with his own life and family issues. Like his alcoholic, bi-polar mother and his autistic brother Jeremy. But when Joe decides to interview a Vietnam vet convicted of a murder 30 years ago who was living at a nearby nursing home, he thinks maybe it won’t be so boring after all.
About the author
Allen Eskens is the bestselling author of ”The Life We Bury”, ”The Guise of Another”, ”The Heavens May Fall”, ”The Deep Dark Descending”, ”The Shadows We Hide”, ”Nothing More Dangerous”, and ”The Stolen Hours”. He is the recipient of the Barry Award, Minnesota Book Award, Rosebud Award (Left Coast Crime), and Silver Falchion Award, and has been a finalist for the Edgar® Award, Thriller Award, and Anthony Award. His books have been translated into 26 languages.
Eskens has a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota and a law degree from Hamline University. After law school, he studied creative writing in the M.F.A. program at Minnesota State University-Mankato, as well as the Loft Literary Center and the Iowa Summer Writer’s Festival. Eskens grew up in the hills of central Missouri. He now lives with his wife, Joely, in greater Minnesota where he recently retired after practicing criminal law for 25 years.
About One Book, One Community: our region reads
This year’s OBOC regional campaign represents collaboration between 40 libraries in four counties: Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry and York and their community partners. Many individual libraries participate in surrounding Central PA counties. Everyone is welcome to read and discuss the book. A reading group guide and related materials will be listed online in January 2022. Reading campaign organizers encourage residents to read the book during January in preparation to attend free programs and discussions that will be held at public libraries beginning in February.
Participating libraries will stock copies of the book that can be borrowed free of charge beginning in January 2022. Books will also be available for purchase at local booksellers. Program schedules for book discussion groups, an author talk, and other innovative activities will be available at all participating public libraries and throughout the community. This information may be accessed online and nearly all the programming is free of charge. Details will be announced on the One Book website as available.
2022 OBOC Finalists
The read will begin in January. Books and eBooks will be available to borrow. Discussions and related programs will begin in February and be held throughout the Spring.
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens, 2014 ------ 2022 title!
Joe Talbert had avoided doing his college English class assignment until it was almost too late. Interviewing an old person abut his life didn't sound all that interesting. Who cared? He had enough trouble dealing with his own life and family issues. Life his alcoholic, bi-polar mother and his autistic brother, Jeremy. But when Joe decides to interview a Vietnam vet convicted of a murder 30 years ago who was living at a nearby nursing home, he thinks maybe it won't be so boring after all.
Miracle Creek by Angie Kim, 2019
This murder mystery takes place in a small town in Virginia where a group of patients meet at a controversial medical center offering treatment in a hyperbaric chamber that some say can cure a wide range of health issues including autism, cerebral palsy, and infertility. An immigrant couple from North Korea has opened the center in hopes of making a new life in America and providing a brighter future for their daughter. One night the oxygen chamber explodes. Two people die in the accident including one child and others are left scarred and severely injured. The mother of the child who died is accused and put on trial for setting the fire that caused the explosion.
Twists and turns in this fast-paced mystery immediately engage the reader to identify who set the fire and why. The timeline shifts from dramatic courtroom scenes to narratives revealing the many secrets that brought the diverse set of patients together to the chamber in their desperate search of hope. To the very last page the reader is left unraveling emotions and motives that could drive a person to commit such a crime.
The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President's Black Family by Bettye Kearse, 2020.
For generations, the author's family had been griottes, the keepers of the family's history both physically and orally. One day her mother shows up with a small box and tells her it is time that she takes her place in the long journey her family has taken. Where will this small box take her? Her mother always told her to, "Remember that you are a Madison. You come from African slaves and a president." This is the author's story of her detective journey to trace her ancestry through the corridors of history to a president and a slave woman from West Africa.
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, 2020
Yes, that George Takei that most people know as the actor in the Star Trek television series. This graphic book format tells the story of George Takei's family as they are ordered from their home to a Japanese Internment camp in Arkansas. The story follows the family, George is a child, as they try to have a list inside the camp as well as life after the Takeis have returned to civilian life. They Call Us Enemy examines themes of racism, xenophobia, loyalty, patriotism, family and more. A fresh look at history that many do not get a chance to see.