Health & Fitness
Long Island Reads Announces Book of the Year
Long Island Reads selects Sutton by by Long Island native J.R. Moehringer as its book of the year.
Long Island Reads has selected Sutton by Pulitzer Prize winner and Manhasset native J.R. Moehringer as its 2013 book of the year. Moehringer’s debut novel was chosen because of its connection to Long Island, readability, appeal to a diverse audience, and outstanding reviews.
Moehringer’s fictionalized account portrays one of the most notorious, romantic and energetic criminals of the first half of the Twentieth Century. A modern-day Robin Hood, William Francis “Willie” Sutton during his 40-year career was a mystery, a folk hero, a lover of books, a reader of Dante, and a felon. He robbed banks “because that’s where the money is,” escaped from three maximum-security prisons and got by on his wits and good looks.
Long Island Reads is an Island-wide reading initiative, sponsored by the Nassau Library System and the Public Libraries of Suffolk County. Each April since 2002 during National Library Week book lovers in Nassau and Suffolk come together to read the same book, participate in discussions of the selection, and enjoy related events in their public libraries. Long Island libraries work together to create programs, develop activities and facilitate discussions all through the inspiration of an American classic.
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Past winners of the award include The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Snow in August by Pete Hamill, Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck, and Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin.
For more information about Long Island Reads, contact Nassau County co-chairs Lee Fertitta (fertitta@pwpl.org), Janet Schneider (jmhschnedier@greatnecklibrary.org) or Suffolk County co-chair Deborah Cunningham (dcunning@suffolk.lib.ny.us). You can follow Long Island Reads on Twitter and Facebook.
