Out to Prove He's Still Just Your Mayor From the Bloc

Citizens of Austin, the Mayor's Book Club has made its 6th annual selection and your compulsory reading assignment for Spring 2007 is Around the Bloc: My Life in Moscow, Beijing, and Havana by Stephanie Elizondo Griest. A part of the Austin Public Library's Keep Austin Reading program, the goal of the Mayor's Book Club is "to to develop a community experience through reading and discussion of a shared book." No need to mail book reports into City Hall, reading Around the Bloc really isn't compulsory, but it is highly recommended.

The announcement was made earlier today and the selection marks the first female-penned title to be chosen for the Mayor's Book Club. Around the Bloc is one woman's chronicle of her time spent in three Communist capitals as a twenty-something. Griest's account employs a light, entertaining tone and, according to Mayor Wynn, it "will appeal to high school and college students because of it’s[sic] youthful perspective."

The Mayor's Book Club culminates in an event with Stephanie Elizondo Griest here in Austin on April 17th. If you wanted to join Austin's largest reading circle, copies of Around the Bloc are available at Austin Public Libraries and local booksellers.

Adorable photo of Mayor Will Wynn with books made available by Austin Public Libraries