Jamaica Plain book-reading group, JP Reads, to launch this fall

By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

A new community-based book reading group plans to launch in Jamaica Plain this fall.

JP Reads hopes to engage the neighborhood to read a single, selected book and to present an author reading, discussions and thematic events for each book that is chosen, according to organizers.

The group’s first book will be The Night Circus, the best-selling debut novel by Boston-based author Erin Morgenstern.

Morgenstern will present an author reading at The Footlight Club community theater in Jamaica Plain on Oct. 5, organizers said. The event hopes to highlight other programming elements around the book that are scheduled to be held between Sept. 26 and Oct. 17.

“The Night Circus is rich with inspiration for a myriad of fun, elegant, community-building events, and is a perfect match for Jamaica Plain’s diverse and creative population,” the group said in a statement, adding that it “chose to launch JP Reads with The Night Circus because of its wide appeal to everyone from teens to seniors – and the ease with which riveting programming could be created for all ages.”

Summit Entertainment, the Hollywood company behind the Twilight series, owns the book’s film rights, according to a CNN report. that equated The Night Circus to the Twilight and Harry Potter series. A movie based on Morgenstern’s book is expected to be released in 2013.

JP Reads is led by an advisory board comprised of neighborhood residents, Boston Public Library branch librarians, community group representatives and friends. The volunteer board members have been meeting over the past several months to create the “One Book/One Community” initiative, according to organizers.

Several neighborhood organizations have signed on as partners: the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club / Loring-Greenough House, Boston Public Library, The Footlight Club, the Eliot School of Applied and Fine Arts and Centre/South Main Street's First Thursday.

The Boston Public Library branches in Jamaica Plain plan to have 120 copies of the group’s first book selection available for JP Reads, organizers said.

The group said it is seeking financial support from the community to help pay for books to distribute, promotion, author travel, fees for venues, public workshops and events, most of which will be free to attend.

Interested supporters can contact Betty Fulton at bfulton@commonwealthpromotion.com or at 617-266-6540.

For more info, visit JP Reads’ Facebook page or e-mail jpreads2012@gmail.com. A website, jpreads.com, is planned to launch this summer.

E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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