The first book voted off the shelf was Linden McIntyre’s The Bishop’s Man. Next go was The Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby. And in the final debate Too Close to the Falls by Catherine Gildiner lost out the Haper Lee classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

A big thank you to Almeda Glenn Miller for being our moderator and to Francine Weigeldt, Carol Markowsky, Sarah-Jane English Christensen and Dawn Leithead for defending their books. Thank you also to Cafe Books West for hosting the debates.

Remember, the debates are over but the books are available at the Rossland Public Library, for those who like to form their own opinion.

Oh, and that’s Rossland native Kevin McNulty playing Atticus Finch in the 2002 Arts Club production of To Kill a Mockingbird. Nirit Rozenberg is Scout.

Don’t forget to spread the word — Rossland Reads begins Nov 1 and continues on Tues Nov. 8 and 15 and finishes on the 22nd. Please come out and watch members from different Rossland book clubs debate the merits of their chosen books.

See you there!

The moment that everyone has been waiting for has arrived. We have four panelists and four book titles and a new  moderator. This year local author Almeda Glenn Miller will be our local “Jian” as she moderates the debates in November. This year’s four panelists come with a special twist — they are all from book clubs.

This Rossland Library event will be held on Tuesday Nov 1, 8,  15, 22 from 7-8 pm at Café Books West in Rossland (located at 2063 Washington Street). There are weekly prizes to be won – we look forward to seeing you there!

Without further fanfare here is the list:

Too Close to the Falls: A Memoir by Catherine Gildiner

– defended  by Carol Markowsky

The Woefield Poultry Collective by Susan Juby

 - – defended by Sarah-Jane English Christensen

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

- – defended by Dawn Leithead

The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre

- – defended by Francine Weigeldt

Stay tuned for an update in early September for a bio of each of our panelists. Until then, happy reading!

See you all there.

Rossland Reads — a Rossland public library event — started way back in October when myself and other organizers hunted down readers (read: friends, co-workers, strangers) to invite them to join our group (better than a Pyramid group, really).

Months later, books were passed around. Emails written (who has this book? Can I get it?)

Summer vacations were planned and then executed with style. Reading books at cabins, after work, on weekends, in Rossland, elsewhere. Everywhere.

I may not be elegant today with my prose (no coffee yet) but I have been listening to Ghian on his last podcasts of CBC Reads online lately…and while I don’t have his sexy timbre  - I have what he has and what others across Canada and the world have – a love of books.

So, it’s your turn – to join us for the four-week series.

Come one day or all four. We dare ya. Really really. Double dare you to come out and listen and join in after the debate. Tell us about your faves.

What is your latest book find? What are your latest fave four books?

Tomorrow night. 7-8 pm. Cafe Books West. Free drip coffee, goodies to eat. Books to champion. We double double dare you (to infinity and back) to come and love every minute.

The Disappeared by Kim Echlin

The Disappeared by Kim Echlin will be defended by Christine DeMarco.

Galore by Michael Crummey

Galore by Michael Crummey will be defended by Chris D’Odorico

JPod by Douglas Coupland

Jpod by Douglas Coupland will be defended by Deanne Steven.

The Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce

The Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce will be defended by Andrew Zwicker.

Christine DeMarco Rossland Reads 2010 Panelist

Christine DeMarco is a Rossland school teacher;  loves include her family, skiing, travel and Canadian literature.

Chris D'Odorico Rossland Reads 2010 Panelist

Chris D’Odorico has been playing and working in the Kootenays for 15 years with his family. He works at Teck and is an active board member at the Rossland Public Library.

Deanne Steven Rossland Reads 2010 Panelist

Deanne is a Rossland housewife with 3 small children and a full time job marketing Rossland to the world.  She is originally from the Kootenays and returned to Rossland with her South African husband 6 years ago after living abroad and back east for many years.   Some of her current favourite books include Freakonomics, Infidel and Eat Pray Love.  Deanne enjoys reading not only for the fun of it but also because her husband hogs the remote control on the TV!

Andrew Zwicker Rossland Reads 2010 Panelist

Andrew Zwicker writes for The Rossland Telegraph (see: http://rosslandtelegraph.com).

Carey Rudisill Rossland Reads 2010 Moderator

Carey Rudisill moved to Rossland in May 2009, is a member of the Rossland Public Library Board, loves reading and is glad her friend introduced her to Rossland Derby (Tues & Thurs 6-8pm at the Rossland Arena – new members welcome).

Missing (photo-wise) are library board members Alynn Smith and Jill Toombs who have helped bring Rossland Reads 2010 to fruition. Also, thanks to librarian Indira Wick and other library staff and volunteers for their support.

Next post – we’ll be visiting Karo at Café Books West for an online interview. Stay tuned!

P.S. The person writing these things thus far has been me (Carey) but we are looking at having a guest blogger join the Rossland Read ranks. Stay tuned for more info on this as well.

Until the next post…

I found this link the other day and could not resist sharing.

“This octagonal structure is build entirely of books. Borrowed ones. I was created for an exhibition, but I think it would be great to have a structure like this built in a library as a quiet reading area. As a child I could imagine wanting to make one of these in my room to sneak inside and read too.”

text taken from http://blog.booktagger.com/?expref=next-blog

I found it exciting because over the next five months we (myself as moderator and the four panelists), and you — members of Rossland — will be delving into the world into the four selected books. These books create their own places inside the front and back cover.

This weekend, we’ll talk to Karo from Café Books West about life behind the book counter.

As well, I’ll be sure to post panelist info, quick pics, and quick info about the books.

Oh, and Friday’s Q of the day:

What is your favourite place to read? The beach? The couch? Deck?

Until next time — keep reading.

This is Rossland Reads.

So, questions?

Okay. Maybe we should write a little more about ourselves.

The idea to create Rossland Reads started at a library board meeting as a way to promote our local library and the joy of reading Canadian fiction. There were more reasons such as the longing for more of Jian Gomeshi’s Canada Reads and a desire to share books with others online in our own town.

Rossland is, like many other towns, a wonderful place to live. Bike. Ski. Work (sometimes). Swim. Skateboard.  Read.

Read? Yes, read. There is a place nestled in this gem of a town that holds shelves of books, DVDs, videos, magazines, reference material. And there is Café Books West, a great independent bookstore located downtown.

We wanted to bring the idea of Canada Reads to Rossland to highlight the fact that there are hidden gems in Canadian fiction just like they are towns like Rossland that are the hidden gems of Canada.

We asked our four panelists to choose a Canadian book that best represented something they wanted to share with others. A hidden gem. Something that they might not have read about elsewhere.

The four panelists chose four distinct titles for Rossland Reads 2010.

The titles are: The Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce, J-Pod by Douglas Coupland, Galore by Michael Crummey, and The Disappeared by Kim Echlin.

In a few days, we will introduce our panelists. In the meantime, make sure you drop by Café West Books to put your order in or pick up books for your summer reading. The library will have two copies of all the titles available.

Happy reading until we talk again.