We all read the same book!

Thanks for participating!

About The Big Read 2009

The Big Read 2009 gave our community the opportunity to come together to read, discuss, and celebrate a single book. Sno-Isle Libraries, in partnership with Everett Public Library, selected Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon as the celebrated title for Snohomish and Island counties in 2009.

Throughout the month of May, The Big Read festivities included book group discussions, film screenings, and events using the book as a point of departure such as mystery-themed activities and music from the 1920s. A first for Big Read programs around the country was a local geocaching treasure hunt.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture. The national program came about following reports on the critical decline in reading across the United States and the serious civic, social, cultural, and economic implications. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

About the book

In case you missed the Big Read activities but are still interested in the book, read on. Much more than a mere 'who-dunnit,' Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon (1930) is an iconic detective novel which is also a thriller, a love story, and a dark comedy. Hammett's clean prose and sharp ear for dialogue keep the reader turning the pages in search of the next clue.

Tough detective Sam Spade is hired by the femme fatale Miss Wonderly who gets Spade's partner killed. Crook Joel Cairo offers Spade money for the return of a priceless jewel-encrusted black bird. Spade soon realizes that Wonderly, Cairo, and Cairo's boss, are all seeking the elusive Maltese falcon statuette.

Who murdered Spade's partner? Where is the Maltese falcon? Is Miss Wonderly as guileless as she claims? Will Spade risk himself to save her? This story is about wanting something so badly that you would kill for it.

The Maltese Falcon is a bomb that starts ticking in the first chapter, ticks faster as it goes, and doesn't detonate until the last pitiless page.