The book named by the ALL IOWA READS committee for 2008 is…Digging to America by Anne Tyler. The title was announced at the Iowa Library Association Conference last week in Coralville. Digging to America was published in 2006; this review comes from Publisher’s Weekly:

"…Tyler (Breathing Lessons) encompasses the collision of cultures without losing her sharp focus on the daily dramas of modern family life in her 17th novel. When Bitsy and Brad Donaldson and Sami and Ziba Yazdan both adopt Korean infant girls, their chance encounter at the Baltimore airport the day their daughters arrive marks the start of a long, intense if sometimes awkward friendship. Sami's mother, Maryam Yazdan, who carefully preserves her exotic 'outsiderness' despite having emigrated from Iran almost 40 years earlier, is frequently perplexed by her son and daughter-in-law's ongoing relationship with the loud, opinionated, unapologetically American Donaldsons. When Bitsy's recently widowed father, Dave, endearingly falls in love with Maryam, she must come to terms with what it means to be part of a culture and a country. Stretching from the babies' arrival in 1997 until 2004, the novel is punctuated by each year's Arrival Party, a tradition manufactured and comically upheld by Bitsy; the annual festivities gradually reveal the families' evolving connections. Though the novel's perspective shifts among characters, Maryam is at the narrative and emotional heart of the touching, humorous story, as she reluctantly realizes that there may be a place in her heart for new friends, new loves and her new country after all…"

Like past years, LSA offices can expect to receive a shipment of multiple copies to loan for library-sponsored book discussions. Our copies usually arrive in January and by then, you’ll also find discussion questions and publicity materials to use for your book clubs. In the meantime, be sure to check the Iowa Center for the Book website for news and updates:

http://www.iowacenterforthebook.org/