The State Centers for the Book linked by US Route 1, which extends from Fort Kent, Maine, to Key West, Florida, are joining together to promote books that illuminate important aspects of their states/commonwealths for readers travelling the major and meandering highway. Read more about it at Route1Reads.org
Empire State Center for the Book Announces Selection for 2020 Route One Reads
May 20, 2019- Guilderland, NY—For the sixth consecutive year, the Empire State Center for the Book will participate in Route One Reads, a roadtrip-inspired reading list that explores various genres through the network of state Center for the Book affiliates located along Route 1. In 2020, the theme of the reading will be Historical Fiction. The book selected to represent New York State is Time After Time (Random House, 2019)by Lisa Grunwald, now available in paperback. It is amagical love story, inspired by the legend of a woman who vanished from Grand Central Terminal, sweeps readers from the 1920s to World War II and beyond.
“The book celebrates a New York City landmark in a unique way,” says Rocco Staino, Director of the Empire State Center for the Book. “Grunwald has examined the terminal’s rich past and has brought to life the Roaring Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II and the Post War eras.”
The diverse reading list created by Route One Reads highlights each individual State Center for the Book while celebrating the East Coast as a whole. By participating in Route One Reads, readers can travel across 15 states and the District of Columbia without taking a single footstep. The full list of featured books for the 2020 Route One Reads initiative is available along with a map of participating states at Route1Reads.org.
Route One Reads is a partnership between the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and its affiliates in: Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; Virginia; and, Washington, D.C.
The complete list of the 2020 is below:
MAINE—Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
NEW HAMPSHIRE—Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
MASSACHUSETTS—Cascade: A Novel by Maryanne O’Hara
RHODE ISLAND—The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
CONNECTICUT—The Judge Hunter by Christopher Buckley
NEW YORK—Time After Time by Lisa Grunwald
PENNSYLVANIA—Carnegie’s Maid by Marie Benedict
NEW JERSEY—In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
DELAWARE—Leading Men by Christopher Castellani
MARYLAND—The Widows of Malabar Hill by Sujata Massey
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Watergate by Thomas Mallon
VIRGINIA—The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
NORTH CAROLINA—In West Mills by De’Shawn Charles Winslow
SOUTH CAROLINA—Trouble the Water by Rebecca Dwight Bruff
GEORGIA—Visible Empire by Hannah Pittard
FLORIDA—Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Empire State Center for the Book Selects Book for 2016 Route One Reads Initiative
May 10, 2016—Albany, New York—For the second consecutive year, Empire State Center for the Book will participate in the Route One Reads initiative, a program under the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. In 2016, the theme of the initiative will be mysteries, and the selected book to represent New York State is The Doorbell Rang by Rex Stout .
Stout’s classic character, Nero Wolfe, is hired to force the FBI to stop wiretapping, tailing and otherwise harassing a woman who gave away 10,000 copies of a book that is critical of the Bureau and its then director, J. Edgar Hoover.
“All of the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout (1886-1975) are excellent mysteries set in New York City,” says Ira B. Matetsky president of the Wolfe Pack, a Stout fan club. “The Doorbell Rang (1965) is especially memorable for its strong plot, its fine characterizations, and its outspokenness for its time as Stout and Wolfe took on the excesses of the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover.”
“The Empire State Center for the Book is delighted to shine the spotlight on Rex Stout and Nero Wolfe series,” says Rocco Staino, Director of the Empire State Center for the Book. “Stout is a member of the New York State Writers Hall of Fame and detective Nero Wolfe and New York appears in over 30 books.
The diverse reading list created by Route One Reads highlights each individual State Center for the Book while celebrating the East Coast as a whole. By participating in Route One Reads, readers can travel across 15 states and the District of Columbia without taking a single footstep, or load selected books into the car for a literary road trip. The full list of featured books for the 2016 Route One Reads initiative is available along with a map of participating states at Route1Reads.org.
Route One Reads is a partnership between the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and its affiliate Centers for the Book in the following states: Connecticut; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina; Virginia; and, Washington, DC.
For 2015, the Empire State Center for the Book’s RouteOneReads is John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, In Search of America. It is a travelogue written by Steinbeck. It depicts a 1960 road trip around the United States made by Steinbeck, in the company of his standard poodle, Charley. His travels start on Long Island’s Sag Harbor when he leaves on the Shelter Island ferry and roughly follow the outer border of the United States.
Additional Reading about Travels with Charley
A Cocktail in Celebration of Travels with Charley
Baron's Cove resort in Sag Harbor, NY has created a cocktail in honor of Travels with Charley. The book begins with Steinbeck leaving his home in Sag Harbor with his poodle Charley. If you are in the EastEnd of Long Island stop in at Baron's Cove and toast Steinbeck. If not here's the recipe created by Gregory Seider.
National Steinbeck Center
Thank you to the National Steinbeck Center for this photo of Rocinante, the truck used by Steinbeck for his Travels with Charley roadtrip.
Route 1 Reads from other States
CENTERS FOR THE BOOK SELECTIONS