By Marcia Lee
Serials Specialist
On April 23rd, bookworms across the U.S., along with others in Ireland & the UK, celebrated the second annual World Book Night. This “literature appreciation night” was launched in 2011 in the UK and this year has spread to our country and and Ireland. It is an event created to connect people locally with others who appreciate the impact literature has on our culture to this day, with the tagline, “Do you love a book so much, you want everyone to read it?”. In other words, as the website states, “World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books.”
A total of 30 titles were selected by sponsors, with titles varying in each country, then each title has been designated to a “book giver” (typically a giver choose their favorite title(s) to hand out). The givers purpose is then to hand the books out to those who want them, for FREE! This allows givers to connect to new readers, for who is a better advertisement for a book but one who loves it? Books are to be delivered April 16th to the givers, then the givers will go on to pass out the books beginning the evening of the 23rd, but they can continue through the week, all for FREE!
In celebration of the event, Schuler’s bookstores here in Grand Rapids will be providing space for book givers to hand out the free books at the Alpine Ave. and 28th St. locations.
Since the book givers can hand out the books any and everywhere, if you don’t find a giver, you can always check out titles from the library. Below is a list of books, from this years lists, available here at GRCC:
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
- The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
- Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
- Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
- Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
- Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
- Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
- My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
- How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
- Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
For more information about this fantastic celebration as a whole, check out the World Book Night website, be sure to like the event/organization on Facebook and check out the library’s World Book Night board on Pinterest!
