PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Public Library has announced that “Before the Wind” by Seattle author Jim Lynch is the Community Read book for 2017.
A month of activities will be scheduled during the community event, which will be held in March.
This is the library’s 11th year of Community Reads, an annual program that brings residents together over one piece of writing, according to library manager Keith Darrock.
The novel is already available for checkout at the public library at 1220 Lawrence St., but so far there are only a few copies available.
The library will have up to 150 copies available near the end of February, according to Darrock.
“The book is free for checkout and people just kind of pass them around among themselves in the community,” Darrock said. “Then we have events so people can discuss the book.”
The book is about a family that reunites for a boat race in the Puget Sound on a classic sailboat that they had all built decades before.
The book is picked by a committee of community members and library staff, and each year the City Council signs a proclamation at the end of February or beginning of March to declare March “Reading Month.”
The library is currently putting together a month’s worth of activities and events.
For last year’s book, “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate” by Naomi Klein, events included a screening of a film based on the book, an art show, readings by local actors at Key City Theater and multiple climate action days.
Darrock said there will be a meet-the-author event with Lynch to discuss the book, which is expected to be a popular pick due to its maritime theme.
“It’s set in a boat yard, not unlike Port Townsend’s boat yards,” Darrock said. “I think a lot of people will identify with this book.”
Lynch grew up in the Seattle area and graduated from the University of Washington before pursuing a journalism career in Alaska, Virginia and Washington, D.C. He returned to the Northwest, where he wrote for the Spokesman Review, the Oregonian in Portland and The Seattle Times.
He now lives in Olympia with his wife, Denise, and daughter, Grace.
“Before the Wind” was named one of the best books of 2016 by the American Library Association and Canada’s National Post.
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Jefferson County Editor/Reporter Cydney McFarland can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 55052, or at cmcfarland@peninsuladailynews.com.
