“Let’s first focus on the smells, or lack thereof, in the first few pages of the novel,” said Emily Robins Sharpe, a Keene State College English professor, as an opening discussion to the Keene Is Reading meeting that took place at noon on Friday, Sept. 12, 2014.

The group is a book club that meets once a month and is open to students, faculty and members of the community.

Last Friday’s hour-long meeting consisted of a literary discussion from a group of about twenty-five people who contributed to the conversation.

Sharpe explained that the novel chosen this year is called “Americanah,” written by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

“We looked through lots of books,” Sharpe said.

“We chose Adichie’s ‘Americanah’ for its important themes of race, gender and education in a global context. We knew it would tie in well with many ongoing conversations here in Keene,” Sharpe said.

Sharpe started working at Keene State College a year ago and joined English Professor William Stroup as co-coordinator of Keene Is Reading.

Charlotte Guyer, a Keene resident of 22 years, said she was enthusiastic about the book.

Tim Smith / Equinox Staff

This was her first time meeting with the Keene Is Reading group.

“I was delighted that Keene Is Reading chose this book,” Guyer stated after the meeting.

Guyer also mentioned that “Americanah” was a novel she had given to her daughter last Christmas.

Guyer mentioned that she had heard Adichie speak on Fresh Air, an NPR podcast and read the book with a “little bit of a different take” because of that.

“[Adichie] spoke of being an African black versus being an American black,” Guyer said of the interview, “So I read the book with that in the back of my mind.”

Guyer also said that she hopes “Americanah” is a book that others will choose to read.

Like Guyer, last Friday’s meeting was Michael New’s first experience with Keene Is Reading as well. As an English and American Studies Professor at KSC, New said he first heard of the group through the English department.

“I love this author,” New said when asked about his feelings toward the book so far. “Adichie is one of my favorite writers in African literature.”

New was particularly interested in the settings of Adichie’s novel and was able to bring some of his own background to reading the story.

“I love West Africa. I’ve actually travelled there,” he recalled.

He continued, “I spent an undergrad semester abroad in Ghana and also did two week-long seminars in Lagos, Nigeria.”

New was able to add some cultural-depth to the discussion on the novel, thanks to his travels.

During the meeting, Sharpe mentioned that Adichie will be coming to Keene in the near future.

“We’re trying to set the date. It should be sometime in the spring,” Sharpe said.

He also noted how excited he was for the highly esteemed Nigerian author to visit the campus.

Sharpe said the next Keene Is Reading meeting will take place Oct. 3 at the Young Student Center in the Atrium Conference Room at 12 p.m.

Jill Giambruno can be contacted at jgiambruno@keene-equinox.