This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

One of the best things about working for a newspaper is that you're surrounded by people who love books.

It's a passion we share with most Salt Lake Tribune readers, too, so it only makes sense that we should create a way to share and talk about noteworthy novels, poetry and works of nonfiction.

The Tribune on Sunday launches "Utah Lit," a new online book club that will use live Trib Talk video chats moderated by Jennifer Napier-Pearce at sltrib.com as the discussion vehicle.

Starting this month and continuing each month through 2014, "Utah Lit" will recommend a monthly selection and provide background and context for those reading the book.

The final Sunday of each month, an author interview will publish at sltrib.com and in The Tribune's print edition in advance of a Trib Talk chat about the featured book in which readers are invited to participate with Napier-Pearce, other Tribune staffers and sometimes the book's author or other guests. That discussion will take place live at 12:15 p.m. on the final Friday of each month. An archived version of the chat will be available at sltrib.com, where readers also will be able to download a podcast they can listen to at their convenience.

"Utah Lit" will explore regional writers who take on issues important in the West.

Those writers include Escalante resident Jana Richman, whose novel "The Ordinary Truth" we've selected as the "Utah Lit" title for January. Richman's 2012 novel is the story of a multigenerational Nevada ranching family and a controversial water pipeline project that strains already fragile relationships.

A Utah native raised in the state's west desert, Richman also wrote a memoir, "Riding in the Shadows of Saints: A Woman's Story of Motorcycling the Mormon Trail," and an earlier novel, "The Last Cowgirl."

Other "Utah Lit" 2014 selections will look at Utah women writers and the female characters they create, the state's many writers of genre books, and books that provide context to our state's cultural divide and extend the conversation in interesting ways.

In the fall, The Tribune hopes to collaborate with the Salt Lake County Library Services' "One County, One Book" program by asking "Utah Lit" participants to also read and discuss the book the county library system chooses.

We're excited about this new online venture and seek your help to first shape, then improve it.

Napier-Pearce and I both invite questions about "Utah Lit" as well as reading recommendations. Email Napier-Pearce at jnpearce@sltrib.com or me at lisac@sltrib.com.

Meanwhile, more information about "Utah Lit" is available at http://www.sltrib.com/utahlit or on The Tribune "Utah Lit" Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/utahlit.

You also may follow UtahLit on Twitter, @utahlit.

Lisa Carricaburu is managing editor. Reach her at lisac@sltrib.com or on Twitter, @lcarricaburu. —

'Utah Lit'

"The Ordinary Truth" by Jana Richman is the inaugural selection for "Utah Lit," a new online book club.

More information is available at http://www.sltrib.com/topics/utahlit or on Facebook.

You also may follow "Utah Lit" on Twitter: @utahlit