World Book Night 2014

It's time to start thinking about World Book Night again!

For those of you who don't remember of who have maybe never heard of WBN before, here's an overview: Every April all over the world, publishers and authors team up with bibliophiles everywhere to try and promote books in low-reading demographics. They do this by publishing special editions of a variety of books, sending them to volunteers, and having them passed out for absolutely FREE to total strangers. Each year a different lineup of books is selected. Here's the 2014 list:

The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

The Ruins of Gorlan: The Ranger's Apprentice, Book 1 by John Flanagan

Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (Large Print edition) by Jamie Ford

The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

Pontoon by Garrison Keillor

Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis

Miss Darcy Falls in Love by Sharon Lathan

Bobcat and Other Stories by Rebecca Lee

Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean

Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan

Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago

Cuando Era Puertorriqueña by Esmeralda Santiago

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Where’d You Go, Bernadette (Large Print edition) by Maria Semple

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff

100 Best-Loved Poems edited by Philip Smith

 As you can see there's a wide variety of subject matter available, and even Spanish language and large print editions, to help get everyone reading.

Here's how the giving works: If you want to hand out twenty books to random strangers this April, which I can tell you is a LOT of fun, start out by going to the WBN website here. Just pick out three books that you'd like to give out, and apply to be a giver. Their guidelines are very concise and helpful. If you're chosen to be a giver WBN will contact you via email. Your books will be sent to a community location (that you select through WBN) where you can pick them up, usually the week before WBN. Then, on April 23rd, go out and help spread the magic of books! You can sign up to be a giver until January 1st.