Finalists announced for annual One Book, One Community selection

Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources has released its list of five books under consideration for the 2025 One Book, One Community event.

A library committee will choose one of these books, inviting the author to visit Sarasota next year to talk about their work.  

Residents are invited to read the selections and join the debate on social media, using the hashtag #OneBook2025, as the committee deliberates on its final selection. 

“Members of the community will often treat this as a reading list, eager to decide for themselves which book they feel deserves to be the one,” said Renée Di Pilato, director of Sarasota County Libraries and Historical Resources in a news release. “It’s a fun way to foster connections through reading.”

The top five contenders are: 

• “The Art Thief” by Michael Finkel — A thrilling true story of the world’s most prolific art thief, Stéphane Breitwieser.
• “Bite by Bite” by Aimee Nezhukumatathil — A lyrical book of short essays about food.
• “The Geography of Bliss” by Eric Weiner — Part travel memoir, part humor and part self-help guide, the author travels the globe to find the happiest place on Earth. 
• “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt — A bestselling novel examining how interaction with living things can resolve loneliness and other adverse emotions. 
• “The Swimmers” by Julie Otsuka — A heartbreaking novel about the importance of exercise and routine. 

Supported by the Library Foundation for Sarasota County, the program has been part of Sarasota County for the last 22 years. 

It has facilitated discussions with many bestselling authors including David Grann, author of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Suzanne Collins, author of “The Hunger Games,” and Patrick D. Smith, author of “A Land Remembered.”  

On March 1, nearly 800 people attended events in North Port and Sarasota to hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ed Yong, about his book “An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.” 

For more information, visit SarasotaCountyLibraries.org/OneBook or call 311 or 941-861-1110.