World Book Night has picked their list of books for 2013 and is now accepting applications for givers!
If you're not familiar with the event, here's a basic rundown from their website:
Each year, 30 books are chosen by an independent panel of librarians and booksellers. The authors of the books waive their royalties and the publishers agree to pay the costs of producing the specially-printed World Book Night U.S. editions. Bookstores and libraries sign up to be community host locations for the volunteer book givers.
After the book titles are announced, members of the public apply to personally hand out 20 copies of a particular title in their community. World Book Night U.S. vets the applications, and the givers are chosen based on their ability to reach light and non-readers. The selected givers choose a local participating bookstore or library from which to pick up the 20 copies of their book, and World Book Night U.S. delivers the books to these host locations.
Givers pick up their books in the week before World Book Night. On April 23rd, they give their books to those who don’t regularly read and/or people who don’t normally have access to printed books, for reasons of means or access.
I participated last year and it was pretty neat. They're so good at picking out appropriate books, too. Here are the picks for 2013:
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
City of Thieves, David Benioff
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury
My Antonia, Willa Cather
Girl With a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan
Bossypants, Tina Fey
Looking for Alaska, John Green
Playing for Pizza, John Grisham
Mudbound, Hillary Jordan
The Phantom Tollbooth, Norton Juster
Moneyball, Michael Lewis
The Tender Bar, J.R. Moehringer
Devil in a Blue Dress, Walter Mosley
Middle School: the Worst Years of My Life, James Patterson
Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
Population 485, Michael Perry
Montana Sky, Nora Roberts
Look Again, Lisa Scottoline
Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
Glaciers, Alexis M. Smith
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain
Salvage the Bones, Jesmyn Ward
Favorite American Poems, Paul Negri (ed.)
Visit their books page for more info on each of the titles (because I love you but no, I'm not linking each one of those individually).
And then maybe apply to be a giver? It's super easy and you'll even get a nifty button to wear. Not to mention you'll be supporting literacy.
Over the next few weeks you'll probably be hearing certain politicians and pundits whining about people wanting "stuff" and "things" (notably using such vague words to avoid using terms like "food" or "shelter"). But in my opinion it's a good thing to take care of your own. We're all on the same planet whether you like it or not, and lifelong literacy is vital and important to the human condition. So find someone who's reluctant to read, doesn't know what to read, or can't afford to buy a book to read, and put that book in their hands.
Come hand out free "stuff" with me.
