“A million reasons to read a book.”
If you are a book lover, World Book Night’s tagline is impossible to ignore.
This year, like last, 20,000 givers are hitting the streets today armed with 24 copies of their book of choice to give away to non- or sometime-readers to encourage them to read and to share their love of reading. It’s also Shakespeare’s birthday and Unesco International Day of the Book.
Last year I was initially unsuccessful in my giver application, but became a reserve giver when one of my local libraries found itself with a spare box of Alan Bennett’s A Life Like Other People’s. (Which, incidentally, was the book I’d chosen in the first place.) My friend Holly, who had plumped for Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters, and I took to the streets of Glasgow to bestow copies of our chosen books upon unsuspecting diners.
This year I decided to do the same thing, selecting The Book Thief by Markus Zuzak, but receiving my second choice, Roald Dahl’s debut short story collection, Someone Like You. (No, it has nothing to do with the Adele song, and yes, I’ve been asked!)