Community Read Book Distribution Party

Join us for the Community Read Book Distribution Party!

Celebrate the joy of reading and community as we come together to kick off the Community Read program! Pick up a free copy of this year's featured book and connect with fellow readers. Whether you're a lifelong book lover or new to the program, this event is the perfect opportunity to dive into a great story and share the experience with others. Enjoy light refreshments, exciting giveaways, and an evening filled with literary fun. Don’t miss out—come and be a part of the community-wide reading adventure!

Community Read

The Community Read, presented by Aspen Words and the Pitkin County Library, strives to celebrate literature, unite readers around a work of fiction, and ignite meaningful conversation on the vital social issues explored in each year's Aspen Words Literary Prize winning novel and those nominated.

After the Aspen Words Literary Prize winner is chosen, Aspen Words and the Library partner together to provide 230 copies of the winning book to community members. Learn more about the Community Read.

2025 Aspen Words Literary Prize Winner & Community Read Novel

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

Colorado, 1864, Star, a young survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre, is brought to the Fort Marion prison-castle, where he is forced to learn English and practice Christianity by Richard Henry Pratt, an evangelical prison guard who will go on to found the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, an institution dedicated to the eradication of Native history, culture, and identity. A generation later, Star's son, Charles, is sent to the school, where he is brutalized by the man who was once his father's jailer. Under Pratt's harsh treatment, Charles clings to moments he shares with a young fellow student, Opal Viola, as the two envision a future away from the institutional violence that follows their bloodlines.