New York City Just Launched a Massive Book Club

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February 9, 2017

If you resolved to read more books this year, but need a little inspiration, you may want to check out one of the newest and biggest book clubs out there. The New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment and Buzzfeed just announced “One Book, One New York,” which is an effort to get all NYC residents—yes, all 8.4 million of them—to read the same book at the same time.

You may be asking yourself: How in the world will an entire city agree on the same title? To get everyone on the same page, organizers asked five celebrities to choose their favorite books. Residents can then vote for their favorite on the city’s website.

Here, a look at the choices:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
By Betty Smith
Recommended by William H. Macy, who says “If I may be Frank, it would be shameless not to choose A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”
The Sellout
By Paul Beatty
Giancarlo Esposito says he’s tapping into his softer side by selecting this title for the book club. Esposito calls The Sellout “one of the sharpest, most biting books in recent memory.”
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
By Junot Diaz
In his own words, Larry Wilmore’s pick “tells the story of an overweight kid who’s into science fiction and desperate to find love.” One, he says, is not too far from his own personal narrative.
Between the World and Me
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Danielle Brooks chose a book she says Toni Morrison calls a must-read. An exploration of race in American history, Brooks says this conversation-sparking title is relevant now more than ever.
Americanah
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Bebe Neuwirth’s pick is for a “knockout of a novel… written by one of the most fantastic female voices in fiction today.”