A great book doesn’t come around every day. So when a literary gem does surface, it’s even better when shared with like-minded people. For bookworms in Mahtomedi and the surrounding area, an annual community reading event offers the perfect opportunity to congregate.
The aptly named MahtoREADi community reading event is an initiative of the Mahtomedi School District’s Community Education Advisory Council and the Wildwood branch of Washington County Library. The event was established with the goal of promoting literacy, fostering community, cultivating intergenerational connections and encouraging exposure to diverse cultures.
Every year, the MahtoREADi committee selects the work of a Minnesota author for the community to read. In November, residents gather for an evening of coffee, cookies and conversation. And thanks to a grant from the library, residents get to discuss the book with the author.
Since the beginning, MahtoREADi has been a small, grassroots initiative powered by a group of dedicated volunteers. Jessica Ruth, marketing and adult programs coordinator for Mahtomedi Community Education, is charged with the task of convening the MahtoREADi committee, directing meetings and handling committee communications. “We pretty much run on volunteer power,” she says. “Someone volunteers to bring the tea, someone donates the cups for coffee, someone picks up the cookies. It’s everybody’s hand in the pot to make it happen.”
The event debuted in 2003 with Stanley Gordon West and his novel, Until They Bring the Streetcars Back. This selection turned out to be especially relevant: West was born in Mahtomedi.
Other books have transported readers further from home. Author and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra violist Evelina Chao led MahtoREADi readers on a literary journey to China in her family memoir, Yeh Yeh’s House. Robert Alexander’s The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar took readers to Russia in the early 20th century, while Jonathan Odell’s The Healing brought readers face-to-face with slavery in pre-Civil War America. According to MahtoREADi committee member Marlyce Lee, “Widening our perspective about different cultures and historical periods has been a big part of picking our selections.”
This year, readers will dig alongside archaeologists on the peat bogs of Ireland in The Book of Killowen, a recent novel by fiction writer Erin Hart. Inspired by the actual discovery of a ninth-century Book of Psalms in the peat bogs of Ireland in 2006, The Book of Killowen pits two archaeologists against a modern-day murder plot whose solution lies in medieval manuscripts and ancient philosophies.
Hart is fascinated by the peat bogs of Ireland. Thanks to the oxygen-deprived environment, centuries-old clothes, leather items and even human bodies have been preserved and eventually uncovered in the peat bogs, revealing precious clues about the history and culture of the place. “[Things that] happened hundreds or even thousands of years ago are still there, and still visible, still present in the modern day,” Hart says.
Since Hart has traveled to Ireland on numerous occasions, often to conduct research for her books, she is prepared to delight MahtoREADi-goers with tales, music and images from the Emerald Isle. She will specifically touch on the sites, archaeological discoveries and historic events that inspired her novel. And as music plays a key role in her work, Hart’s husband, musician Paddy O’Brien, will entertain the crowd with traditional Irish music.
Previous MahtoREADi Book Picks:
- Until They Bring the Streetcars Back by Stanley Gordon West
- The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
- Yeh Yeh’s House by Evelina Chao
- Walking Briskly Toward the Sunset by Jim Klobuchar
- Monkeewrench by P. J. Tracy
- Oh My Stars by Lorna Landvik
- The Latehomecomer by Kao Kalia Yang
- The Cape Ann by Faith Sullivan
- Spirit Car by Diane Wilson
- The Healing by Jonathan Odell
Mark your calendars
What: MahtoREADi author reading event
Where: Mahtomedi High School Chautauqua Theater, 8000 75th Ave. N.
When: November 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
