By Susan Swagler

Good things come in threes. Add another, and it's even better.

Recently, not one but four books on Alabama history came across my desk. I received "Alabama: The Making of an American State" by Edwin C. Bridges, and I wrote about this comprehensive history--from stone age to space age--in Birmingham magazine's November issue. I got "1865 Alabama: From Civil War to Uncivil Peace" by Christopher Lyle McIlwain, Sr., who has spent the past quarter century researching nineteenth-century Alabama. Next, I opened a package containing "These Rugged Days" by John S. Sledge, which details Alabama's role in the Civil War.

And finally, I received a fabulous coloring book about our state. "Amazing Alabama," written and cleverly illustrated by Laura Murray, is a coloring-book trip to each of our 67 counties. Like the more serious, straight-up history books, it's well-researched with both iconic and lesser-known sites. The Elmore County page honors the Creek Indians who first settled the area. It also includes Wetumpka's beautiful Bibb Graves Bridge, which was featured in the movie adaptation of "Big Fish," and it details the asteroid that hit this part of the state 83 million years ago creating a crater 4.7 miles wide.

I turned to that page first, since I grew up there, but looking further into the book, I saw Olympian Jesse Owens on the Lawrence County page; the wintering ducks at Wheeler Wildlife Refugee in Morgan County; the boll weevil monument in Coffee County; and one of the Tuskegee Airmen planes on the Macon County page.

I put all of these books into my "Alabama stack," knowing that we are a third of the way through a three-year celebration of our state's bicentennial, and I'm sure I'll need them soon.

The stack is going to grow. I know it will, actually, because I'm serving on the book-selection committee for the biggest Big Read our state has ever seen. It's part of ALABAMA 200, and we're looking at a lot of great books for readers of all ages and interests.

Alabama Reads 200 (the name, at the time of this writing, is still tentative) won't feature just one book, which is what we've seen in the past. In 2008, the Jefferson County Library Cooperative promoted a countywide Big Read of "To Kill a Mockingbird," encouraging readers to pass the book along when they were done. (I still remember giving mine to a friend who was visiting from Turkey, so I know the reach of this project went far beyond our little corner of the world.) In 2010, everyone in the state was invited to read "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," and libraries and communities throughout Alabama held fun, informative events centered on this book.

This time, with an even broader statewide read, we'll have fiction and nonfiction, including books for adults, young adults, pre-teens, and children--plus a couple books never seen before.

The larger ALABAMA 200 celebration started earlier this year--coinciding with Alabama's territorial bicentennial--with the focus on "Discovering Our Places." Since then, educational, inspirational, and simply entertaining events have been happening all over our state--in each of the 67 counties and in cities large and small. These efforts celebrate the people, places, and events that are uniquely ours. They chart Alabama's path to statehood and focus on our shared--sometimes undeniably hard--history. Go to alabama200.org and click on the calendar for an ongoing list of events that includes cemetery strolls; art exhibitions; dance performances and concerts; museum tours; festivals and fairs; parades; farm days; and (happening now) Christmas open houses and tours.

We're about to enter a year of "Honoring Our People," highlighting the shared experiences of all Alabamians. I'm excited about the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee happening during the first weekend of March 2018. Also, beginning in March of 2018 and continuing until November of 2019, "Making Alabama: A Bicentennial Traveling Exhibit" will visit each county to spotlight our state's history, culture, and geography with interactive displays.

The final year of celebration, 2019, will center on "Sharing Our Stories," and that's when the statewide read will begin. We'll be announcing the chosen books soon. Each genre also will have a long list of companion books to further everyone's reading beyond the books being celebrated. This is going to be a carefully considered reading list that can keep us busy long after the bicentennial celebration is over.

I can't wait to share the fun, exciting ways this will play out.

Historically-Based Reads

A variety of books addressing history and real-life issues.

The Muralist by B. A. Shapiro (Algonquin Books)

In her new novel, The New York Times bestselling author of "The Art Forger" again explores the idea of what it means to be an artist, and she does so deftly within a page-turning, historical thriller. Alizee Benoit was a Jewish-American painter working for the Works Progress Administration when she vanished in New York City in 1940. Her family living in German-occupied France never found out what happened to her. Her patron, Eleanor Roosevelt, had no idea, nor did her artist friends Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock, and Lee Krasner. Then, seventy years later, Alizee's great-niece, Danielle Abrams, is working at Christie's Auction House in New York when she uncovers paintings hidden behind those of the now-famous Abstract Expressionists. The newly-discovered paintings are mysteries to be sure, but they also might be tied to the mystery of her aunt's disappearance.

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Five-Carat Soul by James McBride (Riverhead Books)

This is the first new fiction from McBride since his National Book Award-winning historical novel, "The Good Lord Bird," which was about John Brown's unsuccessful raid on Harpers Ferry. "Five-Carat Soul" is a collection of never-before-published short stories about race and identity and history and understanding. Fans will recognize McBride's insightful, humorous style and his ability to create remarkably lifelike characters. These stories are all over the place. Consider the antiques dealer who discovers a legendary toy commissioned by General Robert E. Lee in the home of a black minister in Queens. In another story, an American president gets inspiration from a conversation he overhears in a stable. Members of The Five-Carat Soul Bottom Bone Band share their own hilarious and poignant histories. McBride was at Alabama Booksmith a couple months ago. You might still find a gift-ready signed, first edition of "Five-Carat Soul" there. Or ask for signed copies of "Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching for the Real James Brown and the American Soul" or "The Color of Water" or "The Good Lord Bird."

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Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue (Random House)

This book won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, it was one of The New York Times' 100 Notable Books, it landed on numerous 2016 "Best Book of the Year" lists, and it even was an Oprah pick. A work of literary fiction about race, class, immigration, and the American dream, it couldn't be timelier. Jende Jonga has emigrated from Cameroon to make a better life for his family in the United States. He and his wife, Neni, and their six-year-old son live in Harlem. Jende has a great, if demanding, job as a chauffeur for Clark Edwards, a senior executive at Lehman Brothers. Clark's wife, Cindy, even hires Neni to work at their summer home in the Hamptons. With their lives linked to those of their privileged, powerful employers, Jende and Neni work steadily toward a brighter future. But then Lehman Brothers collapses, and the lives of both couples change forever.

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The Code Book by Simon Singh (Anchor)



The subtitle of this national bestseller--"The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography"--reveals some of what you'll find inside. It is, in fact, a comprehensive history of encryption. Some of the information here will be familiar, like the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win WWII; and British code breaker Alan Turing, the brilliant mathematician who gave up his career to help his country only to later be punished by the state for his homosexuality; and Mary, Queen of Scots, who was undone by the secret code she used to communicate with her conspirators against her cousin Queen Elizabeth. Secrets, Singh points out, have always been used to change the course of history. The book is written in a highly readable, accessible way and includes various ciphers and stories of those who created them. Singh explores writings of ancient Greek military espionage, and he also considers the ever-increasing concerns about privacy in our modern times. This book was published several years ago, is available in holiday-travel-ready paperback, and remains fascinating for readers of

all interests

This story appears in Birmingham magazine's December 2017 issue. Subscribe today!