Abstract: We analyse the centenary-focused, jointly programmed, “One Book Two Cities” mass reading event organised around Lia Mills’ title, Fallen, in Dublin and Belfast in 2016. Drawing on Sarah Pink’s theory of the place-event, we analyse this mass reading event through event programmes, press releases, newspaper articles, and social media platforms. This mass reading event challenged readers to consider how books were changed by place, and challenged organisers to consider how places were transformed by readers and books. Based on analyses of programmatic activities, we argue that this cross-border activity allowed organisers to engage with the 1916 commemorative programme and participate in the aspirational goals of literary reconciliation, but it permitted them to do so in ways that avoided contested narratives about history, nation, and gender. Historical commemoration in “One Book Two Cities” demonstrates how contemporary politics of commemoration in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland continue to be inflected with their historical entanglements.