Anne Griffin

On Saturday evening in Bend, the Deschutes Public Library Foundation announced its selections for the 2023 installment of A Novel Idea, Oregon’s largest annual community reading event held each spring at libraries around the county.

Organizers of the event will celebrate its 20th year by inviting back four authors from previous A Novel Ideas: David James Duncan (2004), María Amparo Escandón (2006), Peter Heller (2014) and Anne Griffin (2020).

The announcement was made at a public unveiling event Saturday evening at the Downtown Bend Library. The books are as follows:

• “The Brothers K,” by David James Duncan, whose “The River Why” was selected by organizers in the inaugural year of A Novel Idea.

• “L.A. Weather,” by María Amparo Escandón. The library rallied readers around her “Gonzalez & Daughter Trucking Co.” in 2006.

• “The Guide,” by Peter Heller, whose debut novel, the post-apocalyptic thriller “The Dog Stars,” was the Novel Idea book in 2014.

• “Listening Still,” by Anne Griffin. Griffin’s 2019 debut “When All is Said” was chosen for 2020, which necessitated a pivot to an online author visit that spring.

A Novel Idea kicks off April 1, with four weeks of programming built around themes in the books. A Novel Idea usually culminates in an in-person visit by the respective author.

That means, provided public health matters stay the course, Griffin will visit Bend along with her three peers on April 29 — in the flesh, rather than via screens.

“We knew it needed to be something special to commemorate this milestone,” said Liz Goodrich, adult programs supervisor at Deschutes Public Library. “There are many of those last 20 authors that we would love to bring back, but we focused on authors who have new works for us to consider.”

Upon approach, the novelists were all in, according to Goodrich.

“The authors I had exchanges with said, ‘This was a memorable event for me, and I can’t wait to come back.’ So it was pretty exciting,” Goodrich said.

Now comes the work of mapping out four weeks’ worth of programs and pondering what form four authors concurrently visiting might take. Or, for that matter, if participants — to the tune of 9,000 last year, when there weren’t four books to read — will be up for reading all four in A Novel Idea in 2023.

“We’re dealing with a lot of unknowns. In some ways, it feels like the first year of A Novel Idea,” Goodrich said. “We don’t know how some of these details are going to land, but it makes it kind of exciting.”

Deschutes County readers can pick up a reading passport to check off each authors’ past and current Novel Idea books at county libraries, along with the chance to win a commemorative book bag. Readers can reserve physical books from the library or purchase from local bookstores in Deschutes County. “The Brothers K,” “When All Is Said,” and “L.A. Weather” are offered in audiobook format with instant downloads available through hoopla, a free e-book service available from the library. A translated title, “El clima de Los Ángeles” (“L.A. Weather”) is available in Spanish through the library.

For more information, visit 

deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/novelidea