A book has been chosen for the 2019 version of All Iowa Reads. The selection process was slightly different this time.
The title is “This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm” by Ted Genoways. The woman who oversees All Iowa Reads at the Iowa Center for the Book, Helen Dagley, says normally a statewide committee selects the book, but not this year.
“One Book, One Nebraska and All Iowa Reads collaborated to select a joint title for 2019 to be read in both states in library discussion groups around both states,” she says.
Dagley says generally the selected books are not best-sellers but are able to generate conversation.
“It will enable them to have community discussions about the different focus of the book, the writing style, the author, the issues that are raised and the characters in the book,” she says.
The author, Genoways, is a fourth-generation Nebraskan who lives outside Lincoln and studied at the University of Iowa. He’s an investigative journalist and author of five books.