About One Book One Community

One Book One Community: San Mateo County Reads ("OBOC") is a county-wide reading program held annually to build community, call attention to reading and literacy and create a meaningful dialogue about books and reading.

Each year, the OBOC Selection Committee chooses a book written by a major author, usually with local ties, and invites County residents to read this same book at the same time and discuss it through a series of free programs over approximately one month.
Each year's events feature dozens of book discussions and free community activities related to the themes raised by these provocative and inspiring stories.

Past Selections
	2011 Selection Packing for Mars Mary Roach Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 4,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations -- making it possible to preview space without ever leaving Earth. From the space shuttle training toilet to a crash test of NASA's new space capsule (cadaver filling in for astronaut), Packing for Mars takes us on a surreally entertaining trip into the science of life in space and space on Earth.
	2010 Selection The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Michael Chabon Michael Chabon’s first novel, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (1988), was originally written for his master’s thesis at U.C. Irvine and became a New York Times bestseller. Chabon’s second novel, Wonder Boys (1995), was also a bestseller and was made into a critically acclaimed movie starring Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire. In 2000, Chabon published The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2001.
	2009 Selection The Mistress of Spices Chitra Divakaruni Set in Oakland, California, The Mistress of Spices tells the tale of Tilo, a proprietress of the Spice Bazaar and a trained spice mistress, who defies the powers of the ancient world by joining the world of mortals.
	2008 Selection What Is the What Dave Eggers Valentino Achak Deng is separated at seven from his family when Arab militia destroy his village. He joins thousands of other "Lost Boys" beset by starvation, continued attacks, thirst and man-eating lions as they march to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya to piece together new lives.
	2007 Selection Daughter of Fortune Isabel Allende Eliza Sommers, born and raised in a rigid household in Chile, follows her lover to California during the Gold Rush in a danger-filled quest that becomes a momentous journey of transformation.
	2006 Selection The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy Kabul businessman, and Hassan, a family servant, are inseparable friends. They spend their days running kites and telling each other wild tales until an unspeakable event changes the nature of their friendship forever.

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