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Attention, all connoisseurs of prose: it seems PBS NewsHour and The New York Times might have just did something. Allow us to introduce you to “Now Read This,” the new book club both outlets announced on Wednesday (January 3) as part of an effort to engage audiences across their respective platforms.
If you’ve been feeling like the only one in your group of friends who gives AF about reading these days (perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate your circle—just saying), this may be your space. At the top of each month, NewsHour and The Times will pick a book for their audiences to read together. Folks can then engage in conversation by visiting Pbs.org/NewsHour, NYTimes.com, and the “Now Read This” Facebook page. Oh, and the cherry on top: the inaugural pick is Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, which just took home the National Book Award for fiction. The squad has taste.
“With the launch of ‘Now Read This,’ we’re excited to expand the NewsHour’s decades long commitment to coverage of books and the arts,” says NewsHour chief correspondent for arts and culture Jeffrey Brown. “We’ll seek out books that offer insight into the world we and The Times report on daily. And we’ll provide our viewers and readers a unique engagement with leading authors.”
Brown will also interview authors at the end of each month using a list of user-submitted questions, so if you decide to join, get your questions in early.
“We’re thrilled to team up with PBS NewsHour to spark thoughtful conversation about some of today’s most timely and worthwhile books,” Pamela Paul, editor of The New York Times Book Review, added. “Passionate readers now have a home to engage not only with other curious minds, but also with the authors themselves. It will be a real treat to connect with readers of The Times and viewers of PBS NewsHour as they share ideas, ask questions, and debate issues about what they are reading.”
Happy snow day!
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