Fondren to host Books on the Bayou chat

Fondren to host Books on the Bayou chat

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

The annual Books on the Bayou program is just around the corner, but there is still time to read this year’s selection before the Oct. 19 book discussion hosted by Fondren Library.

Marsha Recknagel, writer-in-residence in the English department, will lead the discussion of “Riding the Bus with My Sister,” a “true life journey” by Rachel Simon that was also a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie starring Rosie O’Donnell and Andie MacDowell.

In the book, Simon details her year spent riding the buses of an unnamed Pennsylvania city with her mentally retarded sister, Beth. During that time, Simon came to see her sister as a person in her own right with strong feelings about how she wanted to live her life, despite what others thought.

The time together became a year of personal discovery, of acceptance and of renewed sibling love and closeness.

“Riding the Bus with My Sister” can be checked out at Fondren’s circulation desk. The library obtained multiple copies for the Books on the Bayou: Houston Reads

Together program, now in its sixth year. The program is a partnership among the Houston Chronicle, the Houston Public Library, the City of Houston and METRO to promote a community-wide effort to encourage reading the same book at the same time so that Houstonians can engage in thoughtful discussion.

The book discussion at Rice will begin at 4 p.m.

Oct. 19 in Lovett Lounge on the third floor of Fondren. For more information, contact Jane Segal, humanities and social sciences librarian at Fondren, at <segal@rice.edu> or 713-348-3802.

To learn more about Books on the Bayou, visit <www.hpl.lib.tx.us/booksonthebayou/index.html>.