A close to home read; Page Turners announces 15th annual citywide read
Published 10:26 am Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The Austin Page Turners announced that Allen Eskens will be this year’s author for the citywide read at the Austin Public Library Tuesday afternoon. Photos by Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin Page Turners members are sticking close to home for the 2016 citywide read.
The committee announced Tuesday that it selected Allen Eskens’s mystery novel “The Life We Bury” for the 2016 citywide read, and the novel features a character who is an Austin native.
The book is about a college student, Joe Talbert, who interviews Carl Iverson, a man dying from cancer and is also the murderer of a 14-year-old girl. As the story goes on, Joe gets deeper into Carl’s life and also returns many times to his hometown of Austin to protect his younger brother from a bipolar, alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend.
Page Turners member Sue Grove said it was a page turner for her and she read the book in one day. It is about 300 pages long and a “quick read.”
“There were a lot of plot turns and twists,” Grove said. “I liked the fact that he [Joe] was from Austin.”
The book is available at the library in print and digital form and will also be sold at the Philomathian Religious Books & Gifts.
Eskens will visit the library for a presentation and book signing on April 28. Eskens holds a journalism degree from the University of Minnesota, a law degree from Hamline University and an M.F.A. from Minnesota State University.
Holly Johnson talks a little about author Allen Eskens.
The book was also a finalist for five awards, including the 2015 Minnesota Book Award.
“It was a fun year. We had a good time,” Bonnie Rietz, PageTurners committee co-chair said. “Some years it’s been a tie and we’ve said ‘this book’ or ‘no, this book.’ This year it was very amicable and it worked well.”
To choose the citywide book, committee members bring suggestions of books they’ve read by Minnesota authors and narrow it down to fewer books and decide which one would benefit the community most, committee member Bruce Richardson said.
‘The Life We Bury’ by Allen Eskens is the Page Turners 15th annual citywide read.
“We came down to three, and of those three we chose this one. But two were pretty close and could be the book for next year,” he said.
Richardson recommended Eskens’s book to the group.
“It was a true page turner,” Rietz said. “I started it and wanted to finish it.”
To become a member of the PageTurners, contact Courtney Wyant at the library, 507-433-2391.
