​​Voting is Closed.

Voting for the 2018 Book
​has concluded.
​The winner was announced September 14, 2017.
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Read how our book selection
​year unfolds and the magic happens.
Our Goal

Our goal is to bring people in our community together through the shared reading and discussion of a common book. Our choices inspire rich discussion and community activities and encourage young readers to participate through companion books and related activities. 
2017 Book of the Year
Noon at Tiffany's by Echo Heron

​Noon at Tiffany’sHistorical Biographical Novel by Echo Heron
In the summer of 1888, Clara Wolcott, a daring young artist from Ohio, walked into Louis Tiffany’s Manhattan office to interview for a job as a designer. For the next 21 years, her pivotal role in his multi-million dollar empire remained one of Tiffany’s most closely guarded secrets–a secret that when revealed 118 years later sent the international art world into a tailspin. Basing her story on a recently discovered cache of letters written between 1888 and 1944, New York Times bestselling author Echo Heron artfully blends fact with fiction to draw the reader into the remarkable life of one of America’s most prolific and extraordinary women artists: Clara Wolcott Driscoll, the hidden genius behind the iconic Tiffany lamps.
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“It is heartbreaking that Clara did not get any of the recognition she so richly deserved during her lifetime. This book ‘rights’ that wrong in compelling fashion. It’s a remarkable story and a terrific read.” ~ lizard (Amazon customer review)
Events begin in early  2017
The Other Contenders 
Glory Over Everything
Historical Fiction by Kathleen Grisson
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Fans of The Kitchen House published in 2010 connected so deeply that Kathleen Grissom, found herself being asked “what happens next?” This new, stand-alone novel opens in 1830, and Jamie, who fled from the Virginian plantation is passing in Philadelphia society as a wealthy white silversmith. After many years of striving, Jamie has achieved security, only to discover that his aristocratic lover Caroline is pregnant. Before he can reveal his real identity to her, he learns that his servant Pan has been captured and sold into slavery. Jamie agrees to help, knowing he will travel perilously close to Tall Oakes and the slave hunter who is still searching for him. Though they have help from the Underground Railroad, not all of them will make it out alive.

“With her second novel, Kathleen gives us a stirring and uplifting tale of the triumph of compassion and courage over bigotry and brutality. The story jumps off the page, and her characters are unforgettably human . . . absolutely a must read.” ~ David R
Hidden America
Nonfiction by Jeanne Marie Laskas

In Hidden America, journalist Jeanne Marie Laskas dives into her subjects and emerges with character-driven stories about the people who make our lives run every day—and yet we barely think of them. Take the men of Hopedale Mining company in Cadiz, Ohio . . . you will know not only about their work, but about Pap and his dying mom, Smitty and the mail-order bride who stood him up at the airport, and Scotty and his thwarted dreams of becoming a boxing champion. Others that she explores: an Alaskan oil rig, a migrant labor camp in Maine, the air traffic control center at LaGuardia Airport in New York, a beef ranch in Texas . . . and the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleaders, mere footnotes in the moneymaking spectacle that is professional football.
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“Laskas . . . doesn’t just interview the people who dig our coal and extract our oil, she goes deep into the mines and tundra with them. She goes nationwide to find the hidden soul of America, the people we depend on most but know the least. ~ Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Hidden Strings of Frankie Presto
Novel by Mitch Albom

The voice of Music narrates the tale of a beloved disciple, Frankie Presto, an orphan raised by a music teacher in a small Spanish town. At nine years old, Frankie is sent to America in the bottom of a boat. His only possessions are an old guitar and six precious strings. But Frankie’s talent is touched by the gods, and his journey weaves him through the musical landscape of the 20th century, with his stunning talent affecting numerous stars along the way, including Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Carole King, Wynton Marsalis and even KISS. Frankie becomes a pop star himself. He makes records. But his gift is also his burden. Through his music, he can actually affect people’s futures—with one string turning blue whenever a life is altered.
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“A beautiful story that forces us to think about the concept of a life well lived…Albom brings his literary magic once again.” ~ Huffington Post
​Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter
Biography by Kate Larson

Joe and Rose Kennedy’s strikingly beautiful daughter Rosemary attended exclusive schools, was presented as a debutante to the Queen of England, and traveled the world with her sisters. And yet, Rosemary was intellectually disabled — a secret fiercely guarded by her powerful family. Larson illuminates Joe’s decision to have Rosemary lobotomized at age twenty-three, and the family’s complicity in keeping the secret. Larson delivers a profoundly moving coda: JFK visited Rosemary for the first time while campaigning in the Midwest; she had been living isolated in a Wisconsin institution for nearly twenty years. Only then did the siblings understand what had happened to Rosemary and bring her home for loving family visits. It was a reckoning that inspired them to direct attention to the plight of the disabled, transforming the lives of millions.
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“By making Rosemary the central character, she has produced a valuable account of a mental health tragedy, and an influential family’s belated efforts to make amends.” ~ The New York Times Book Review – Meryl Gordon