Behold the power of an idea – be it bringing a local community together one book at a time or promoting peace one school at a time.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Sacramento Public Library is asking everyone in our region to read the same book as part of its One Book Sacramento: Connecting Our Communities program.

This year, that book is the best-selling "Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission To Promote Peace, One School at a Time" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (Penguin, $15, 368 pages).

The library is sponsoring two appearances by Mortenson in September but, as a testament to the book's success, both have already sold out. However, you will be able to join discussion groups and participate in other events. Go to www.saclibrary.org to find out more.

Meanwhile, The Bee has invited Mortenson's co-author, award-winning journalist Relin, to appear at 6 p.m. Oct. 2 at the Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, 828 I St., at a special edition of The Bee Book Club. (Mortenson will be in Afghanistan in October.)

"Three Cups of Tea" is Mortenson's first-person story of how he attempted to climb the mountain K2 in Pakistan and ended up being saved by villagers from the town of Korphe.

During his seven-week recovery there, he saw that the children desperately needed a means of education. Upon leaving, he vowed to return and build a school.

In the ensuing years, Mortenson has dedicated his life to promoting literacy and education in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The nonprofit group he helped establish has built 61 schools that have educated 25,000 youth.

If you find the book as inspiring as thousands of other readers have done, consider entering the One Book Sacramento Essay Contest. Read "Three Cups of Tea," and "share your thoughts about what the book means to you and its impact on your life."

Adults can submit an essay of up to 1,500 words, while teenagers (ages 13 to 17) may submit an essay of up to 500 words. Winners will receive gift certificates from Borders Books & Music.

The deadline is Sept. 12. Winners will be announced at the Oct. 2 Bee Book Club event.

Find out the rules and where to send the essays by calling (916) 264-2920 or visiting www.saclibrary.org.

Update on 'Cancer' book

Last Monday, I wrote about Nick Trujillo, his late wife, Leah Vande Berg, and the book they co-wrote, "Cancer and Death: A Love Story in Two Voices (Hampton, $23.95, 163 pages). Before the story ran, everything appeared to be in place for readers to easily buy the book from area bookstores and at amazon.com. As it turned out, that wasn't the case. The best way to buy the book is via the publisher at (800) 894-8955, where a spokeswoman assured me a real person will take your order. The publisher is in New Jersey, so place the call between 6 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. California time.

New titles on the shelves

These titles crossed the desk recently:

"The Wild West Catalog" by Bruce Wexler (Running Press, $19.95, 256 pages): This fascinating coffee-table book is a steal at the price. It's full of color and vintage photos and offers the real skinny on cowboys and gunfighters, firearms of the Wild West, Indians and their regalia, Western movies and TV shows, chuckwagon recipes and much more.

"Iodine" by Haven Kimmel (Free Press, $24, 240 pages): In Kimmel's fourth literary novel, we meet brilliant but extremely troubled runaway Trace Pennington, now living with her dog in a vacant house and putting herself through college. The turning point is when she and a university professor fall in love and things become very dark. Kimmel appeared for The Bee Book Club in 2004.

"Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All" by Christina Thompson (Bloomsbury, $24.95, 288 pages): When American graduate student Thompson fell in love with her future husband in New Zealand 20 years ago, they could not have been more different. For starters, Seven was a blue-collar worker, while she was an intellectual. He was a descendant of Maori warriors; she came from "colonizer" stock. But their marriage was the seed of this book, a deep dive into "the complex and bloody period of contact between Europeans and Maoris in the late 18th and early 19th centuries." To supplement the book, check out the 1994 film "Once Were Warriors."

Written on the calendar

Upcoming author appearances include:

• Mark Kreidler for "Six Good Innings: How One Small Town Became a Little League Giant (Harper, $24.95, 256 pages): Kreidler, a former Bee sports columnist, focuses on the Little League players, their parents and coaches in Toms River, N.J. He follows one All-Star Little League season, showing how the town gets its identity from the children's baseball dynasty.

Event: 2 p.m. Sunday at Borders, 500 First St., Davis, (530) 750-3723.

The Bee's Allen Pierleoni can be reached at (916) 321-1128 or apierleoni@sacbee.com. Contact him with news of coming literary events that are open to the public.