About the Coronado Community READ:

Now in its tenth year, the Coronado Community READ aims to bring our community together through the shared experience of reading a single book. This program encourages discussion and participation in a variety of community events that align with the theme of the chosen book, which you, the readers, select.

Nomination Process:

Nominations for the 2026 Coronado Community READ will be accepted from October 1 to October 15. During this period, the community is invited to suggest titles that meet the selection criteria outlined below. The Coronado Community READ Selection Committee, made up of Coronado Public Library staff, community partners, and local book club members, will review all nominations. They will narrow down the list to 10 titles, and then to 5 finalists.

Selection Criteria:

When choosing a book, the committee considers the following:

• Broad Appeal: The book should engage a wide range of adult readers with varying ages, literacy levels, and life experiences.
• Quality: The book should be well-written, with compelling characters, plot, and/or themes that encourage discussion and the exchange of ideas.
• Availability: The book should be available in multiple formats, such as paperback, audio, and large print.
• Recency: Ideally, the book should have been published within the last 5 to 10 years.

Additional Considerations:

• Is the author still living? Do they have a national or regional reputation?
• Is the author from California, particularly San Diego or Southern California?
• Is the book fiction, non-fiction, or a memoir? The program alternates between fiction and non-fiction each year.
• Is there a film or theater adaptation of the book?
• Is the title available in other languages?
• Does the book contain sensitive material?
• Has the book won any awards?

Submit Your Suggestion:

Nominations Open October 1.

		Past Selections
		The Women Kristin Hannah When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
		Remarkably Bright Creatures Shelby Van Pelt For fans of A Man Called Ove, a luminous debut novel about a widow's unlikely friendship with a giant Pacific octopus reluctantly residing at the local aquarium-and the truths she finally uncovers about her son's disappearance 30 years ago
		Project Hail Mary Andy Weir The sole survivor on a desperate, last-chance mission to save both humanity and the earth, Ryland Grace is hurtled into the depths of space when he must conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.
		West With Giraffes Lynda Rutledge Inspired by true events, this part adventure, part historical saga and part coming-of-age love story follows Woodrow Wilson Nickel as he recalls his journey in 1938 to deliver Southern California’s first giraffes to the San Diego Zoo.
		Stamped From the Beginning Ibram X. Kendi A comprehensive history of anti-black racism focuses on the lives of five major players in American history, including Cotton Mather and Thomas Jefferson, and highlights the debates that took place between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and antiracists.
		The Library Book Susan Orlean Susan Orlean reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history, and delivers a dazzling love letter to a beloved institution--our libraries.
		The Practice House Laura McNeal Nineteen-year-old Aldine McKenna is living in a Scottish village in 1929 when two Mormon missionaries visit. Her sister converts and moves to America to marry, and Aldine follows, seeking her own path. In New York, she answers an ad for a teacher in drought-stricken Kansas, where farms are failing and schools are closing. With no money and too much pride to return, she moves in with Ansel Price, the man who placed the ad. As she adjusts to her new life, tensions rise, leading to a storm that will change everything.
		Ready Player One Ernest Cline Immersing himself in a technological virtual utopia to escape an ugly real world of famine, poverty, and disease, Wade Watts joins an increasingly violent effort to solve a series of puzzles by the virtual world's creator.
		The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping. Documents the story of how scientists took cells from an unsuspecting descendant of freed slaves and created a human cell line that has been kept alive indefinitely, enabling discoveries in such areas as cancer research, in vitro fertilization and gene mapping. #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ' 'the story of modern medicine and bioethics' and, indeed, race relations' is refracted beautifully, and movingly.