The 2015 One Book – One Lincoln program was wrapped up October 18th, with the final special program, but information about Americanah and One Book – One Lincoln – 2015 is still available on this archive page.
The fourteenth annual One Book – One Lincoln community reading program began on May 25, 2015, with the announcement of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s powerful and thought-provoking novel, Americanah, as the selected title for 2015. The scheduled events of One Book — One Lincoln — 2015 will take place throughout this summer.
“From the award-winning author of Half of a Yellow Sun, a dazzling new novel: a story of love and race centered around a young man and woman from Nigeria who face difficult choices and challenges in the countries they come to call home.
As teenagers in a Lagos secondary school, Ifemelu and Obinze fall in love. Their Nigeria is under military dictatorship, and people are leaving the country if they can. Ifemelu—beautiful, self-assured—departs for America to study. She suffers defeats and triumphs, finds and loses relationships and friendships, all the while feeling the weight of something she never thought of back home: race. Obinze—the quiet, thoughtful son of a professor—had hoped to join her, but post-9/11 America will not let him in, and he plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London.
Years later, Obinze is a wealthy man in a newly democratic Nigeria, while Ifemelu has achieved success as a writer of an eye-opening blog about race in America. But when Ifemelu returns to Nigeria, and she and Obinze reignite their shared passion—for their homeland and for each other—they will face the toughest decisions of their lives.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today’s globalized world: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s most powerful and astonishing novel yet.”
The two “runners up” in the top three for One Book – One Lincoln – 2015 were:
Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson [Biography Stevenson]
Click Here to visit the the official One Book – One Lincoln Finalists page for more detailed information about the Top Three titles; the Top Eleven titles for 2015 have also now been added to the Finalists Page!
One Book – One Lincoln is a community reading program sponsored by Lincoln City Libraries. The program encourages all adults in Lincoln and Lancaster County to read and discuss the same book at the same time. The goal of the program is to encourage reading and dialogue by creating a community wide reading reading and discussion experience.
The idea of city-wide reading programs started in Seattle in 1998 with the program “If All Seattle Read the Same Book” initiated by the Washington Center for the Book, located at the Seattle Public Library. The Library of Congress’ Center for the Book reports that “One Book” programs have been introduced across the U.S.A. and around the world.
This is Lincoln’s 14th straight year of the program. Since 2002, the citizens of Lincoln and the surrounding communities have been encouraged to read the same book each fall, and participate in special programming and book discussions. Each year, readers in Lincoln have been invited to nominate titles for consideration for that year’s selected title. You can see an archive of the previous twelve years’ worth of One Book – One Lincoln selections at our One Book main page (although the individual pages for each previous year are still being converted for use on the Lincoln City Libraries’ all-new web site!).
Lincoln City Libraries Reference staff are in the processing of compiling additional resources about Americanah and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
So you want to have a One Book – One Lincoln discussion group for Americanah, but you don’t have a discussion leader? During June, July and August and beyond, Lincoln City Libraries staff will be available to organizations, businesses and clubs interested in hosting a discussion group. Visit our Finalists page, to request a book discussion leader via our online form, or for further information, call Lincoln City Libraries at 402-441-8503.
Several special programs are being scheduled at various locations during July or August, with ties to the themes and events of Americanah. You can see descriptions at our One Book – One Lincoln Programs and Events page!
A call for nominations from the community in January and February resulted in 222 nominations for 176 different titles being received. The general criteria for the title included:
A selection committee with community-wide representation was formed, which narrowed the list down to an eleven title shortlist, and ultimately to both the Top Three Finalists and ultimate winner, which were announced to the public on Memorial Day 2015.
Members of the selection committee included: