You Get a Book! And YOU Get a Book!
On April 23rd, a group of 50,000 “passionate readers” will be giving away a million books.
The program is “World Book Night,” an expanded version of a program that began in Britian, where it lead to an increase in book sales. Anna Quindlen has been named the honorary chair of the U.S. program.
Librarians are invited to apply to be “book givers.” Online applications are available today, at us.worldbooknight.org.
In addition to the giveaways, books will be shipped to prison libraries and military bases.
The thirty books in the program were chosen by a panel of independent booksellers, Barnes & Noble buyers, and librarians.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Hachette/ LBYR)
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (HarperPerennial)
Blood Work by Michael Connelly (Hachette/Grand Central)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (RH/Knopf Books for Young Readers)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Penguin/Riverhead); a Spanish-language edition, La breve y maravillosa vida de Óscar Wao (RH/Vintage Espanol), will also be made available.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Macmillan/Tor)
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger (Perseus/Da Capo)
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (S&S/Scribner)
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (Norton)
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (Macmillan/Picador)
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (RH/Ballantine)
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (RH/Broadway)
Just Kids by Patti Smith (HarperCollins/Ecco)
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (Beacon Press)
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Penguin/Riverhead)
Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster)The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Hachette/Back Bay)
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (S&S/Atria)
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri (HMH/Mariner)
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (Grove Atlantic)
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (HarperPerennial)
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (RH/Ballantine)
Q Is for Quarry by Sue Grafton (Penguin/Berkley)
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Workman/Algonquin)
The Stand by Stephen King (RH/Anchor)
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (HMH/Mariner)
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Penguin/Viking Children’s)
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (RH/Vintage)