By Daily Press staff
Santa Monica Citywide Reads is an open invitation to everyone who lives, works, visits, or attends high school or college in Santa Monica to read and discuss the same book.
The program will be launched during National Library Week (April 6-12) and concludes during the Santa Monica Festival on May 17. Modeled after “one book, one city” initiatives held across the country, the program is designed to encourage an appreciation for reading and talking about books by launching an “all Santa Monica” book club.
The book selected for Santa Monica’s inaugural Citywide Reads is “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie. This international best seller resonates with the themes of friendship and the transforming power of storytelling. As the characters in this novel discover, sharing ideas about books with friends adds insight and richness to the experience of reading.
Sponsored by the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Public Library, the Friends of the Library, the California Center for the Book, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and other community and educational partners, Citywide Reads invites participation in the following public book discussion groups: Tuesday, April 8, 1:30 p.m. — Ken Edwards Center, 1527 Fourth Street, Room 100. Thursday, April 10, 2 p.m. — Senior Recreation Center, 1450 Ocean Ave. Saturday, April 12, 2 p.m. – Fairview Branch Library, 2101 Ocean Park Blvd. Monday, April 21, 10 a.m. – Joslyn Park Auditorium, 633 Kensington Rd. Wednesday, April 23, 10 a.m. – Marine Park Auditorium, 1406 Marine St. Thursday, April 24, 10 a.m. – Douglas Park Clubhouse, 25th St., and Wilshire Blvd.
Friday, April 25, 3 p.m. – Reed Park Auditorium, Seventh St. & Wilshire Blvd. Wednesday, April 30, 7 p.m. - Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 1426 Montana Ave. #5. Wednesday, April 30, 7 p.m. - Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 2901 Main St. Saturday, May 3, 11 a.m. – Ocean Park Branch Library, 2601 Main St. Sunday, May 4, 2 p.m. - Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 3150 Ocean Park Blvd. Thursday, May 8, 7 p.m. - Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 200 Santa Monica Blvd. Thursday, May 8, 7 p.m. - Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 1312 Third Street Promenade. Saturday, May 10, 10:30 a.m. – Montana Ave. Branch Library, 1704 Montana Ave. Friday, May 16, 12:30 p.m. - Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 829 Wilshire Blvd. Teen Book Discussions: Saturday, April 26, 3 p.m. – 18th Street Coffeehouse, 1725 Broadway. Thursday, May 15, 7 p.m. - YMCA Teen Center, 1332 Sixth St.
These moderator-led book discussions are free and open to the public. Participation is also encouraged for those who already belong to a book club by contacting Santa Monica Citywide Reads for a discussion Resource Guide at www.smpl.org/cwr.
Related events include a free family concert, “Mozart in Mao’s China: Music Suggested by Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” performed by The String Family Players on Sunday, April 13, 1-2:30 p.m. at Miles Memorial Playhouse, 1130 Lincoln Blvd.
Author Aimee Lu presents her new book, “Flash House,” a historical thriller novel set during the Communist Revolution in China in the late 1940s and provides interesting context to Dai Sijie’s novel whose storyline takes place later during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Lu appears at Tuesdays with Books on April 22 at 1:30 p.m., at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 Fourth St.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 5, 2003. Read the original PDF.