Salt Lake picks second book for club

Salt Lake City has picked what likely will be a less controversial second novel for its citywide book club.

City leaders will kick off the second installment of Salt Lake City Reads Together today by unveiling the selection of "Plainsong" by Kent Haruf. It's the book they hope the entire city will read over the next six months.

While "Plainsong" does address some difficult social issues, it isn't expected to generate the controversy "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime" did when the city selected it for its inaugural citywide book club last August.

That initial selection was panned by some for containing too much vulgarity and profane references to God and Jesus — words that tend to offend the city's large population of LDS Church members.

Instead of bringing the community together through reading, the book was criticized as further dividing the city's LDS and non-LDS populations.

"We really wanted to be able to appeal to a broad base of people," said Betsy Burton, The King's English bookstore owner who was on the city's book selection committee. "We certainly don't want to exclude any members of the community. This is about building bridges, not creating walls."

Burton said her store sold more than 500 copies of "The Curious Incident," a large number for a small, independent bookstore.

While less vulgar " 'Plainsong' isn't without controversy. It involves an unwed mother. There are definitely elements in 'Plainsong' that are socially controversial," city spokeswoman Deeda Seed said.

The second time out, the city is focusing its book club program on juvenile literacy and has picked two books for kids, "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle and "The City of Ember" by Jeanne DuPrau.

There's another new wrinkle as well.

In conjunction with Salt Lake City Reads Together, the Utah Humanities Council is launching its "Tag-You're It" book-sharing program. Two hundred copies of "Plainsong," along with 50 copies each of "A Wrinkle in Time" and "The City of Ember," will be left in laundromats, restaurants, grocery stores and elsewhere throughout the city. People finding these books marked with a "Tag-You're It" sticker are encouraged to take the book home, read it and place it in another public location for someone else to find.

Ken Sanders, who owns Ken Sanders Used Books, became a member of the city's selection committee after reading of the controversy surrounding the inaugural Salt Lake City Reads Together selection.

His goal is to get even more city residents involved this year.

"It will be a book that people have different opinions about and can have a dialogue about," he said of "Plainsong."

A key goal of the program is to spark conversation between people who might not otherwise talk.

Readers also can sign up for small group book clubs at www.slcreads.com or by calling 801-535-7704.

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E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com