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BCC Reads!

The BCC Reads! Selection Committee is pleased to announce the BCC Reads! Book for 2008-2009:
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. The committee and Center for Liberal Arts invite the BC community to read the book and join a college-wide conversation about its themes and ideas. Instructors wishing to adopt it in courses should contact the Center for Liberal Arts. If you’re interested in participating in planning and development for BC Reads! The Martian Chronicles, please contact any of the committee members. A wiki has been developed where instructors can share teaching ideas and assignments, contribute programming ideas, and discuss the book’s themes. Visit the BCC Reads! Martian Chronicles at http://bccreadsthemartianchronicles.wetpaint.com/.

A few days ago on the NASA web site there was a photograph of a landslide on Mars. It was incorporated in the update to reports on the time table for the United States to send a spacecraft with humans-not cute robots on wheels-to Mars. We do not have to wait for technology, the rotation of the planets, the politics, the astronomical budget or for scientists to solve the challenging problem of how to maintain our bone density without gravity! We are going by way of Ray Bradbury’s classic The Martian Chronicles.

Published in 1950, The Martian Chronicles is a loosely connected series of short stories-many are written to stand alone. As a common book choice Martian Chronicles effortlessly bridges 50 years. “There was always a minority afraid of something, and a great majority afraid of the dark, afraid of the future, afraid of the past, afraid of themselves and the shadows of themselves,” says Ray Bradbury.

The red planet has fascinated us for centuries, and The Martian Chronicles will make real the old saying that life is not measured by the breaths you take but by the moments that take your breath away…it will make you long to hold an ancient manuscript that sings the words as you pass your hand over the surface- and those words will forever be lodged in your mind and heart.

BCC Reads! Selection Committee:
Wilma Dougherty/ Librarian (chair), Star Rush/Center for the Liberal Arts, Lee Buxton/Speech Communication, Frank Hatstat/Business, Barbara Wright/Humanities & Science, Doug Brown/Science, Geeta Sadashivan/English, Nancy Eichner/English, Scott Bessho/English, Elizabeth Dills/English.

Resources Related to The Martian Chronicles

Library Materials
We have a selection of books in the library relating to the topics discussed in the book. These books are housed in the library (D126) and can be checked out for one week. To view a complete listing of books, videos and DVDs available in the Library Media Center relating to The Martian Chronicles, go to the Library Catalog, click on the "Subject" tab, and search for "BCC Reads." Click here for a listing of the books currently housed in the BC Reads! section.

Interested in past BC Reads! titles? Visit the BC Reads! Archives.

To find out more about the BCC Reads! program visit the Center for Liberal Arts website.