World/National Book Day/Evening (?)

[johnb]

I'm not sure of the exact name of the book-fest that has been on the news recently but last night a neighbour from down the road rang the bell and explained that he was involved in the project and was giving away his selected book to the people in the road.

Sadly I couldn't benefit as the book was Márquez's "Love in the Time of Cholera" which I already have. However, he said that he was thinking of organising a get together in a local pub later in the month and suggested that I might like to read it again.

I'm not too enthusiastic about book clubs (being an determined non-joiner of clubs or societies) but it might be a way of neighbours getting to know each other better.

Has anyone else got any thoughts on this "event"?

[Anna]

I only know what I read this morning on the BBC. The idea of giving books away is very worthy, particularly in prisons and hospitals, but I wonder how many people, like John, have already read the book or others, being presented with, say Fingersmith will swiftly donate it to the nearest charity shop? A full list of books is via this link and it seems for each book there is an affiliated discussion group. I confess I have only read 6 of those on the list. I think I recall Marks & Spencer having a book giveaway a few years back.

http://www.worldbooknight.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=35&Itemid=92

[Pianorak]

This dynamic and unprecedented industry-wide initiative to celebrate adult books and reading will see one million free books given away on World Book Night . . .

Adult books? - Joking apart, have looked at the FAQs but still not sure about a couple of things: who pays for the books? Do they have to be new or second-hand?

[johnb]

"Adult" as in sex: no.

"Adult" as in not children's books: yes.

The books are new (as far as I know).

The books

The sponsors

I do wonder whether this will end up as a 'conversation' between those who are already book lovers. I can't see many of the books that are on the list enticing or hooking other people into the reading habit. It's a pity they didn't include a sprinkling of good page-turning thrillers (e.g. Jo Nesbo, etc) which might have had a more general appeal.

[Anna]

I totally agree with John that these generally are not titles which will persuade people to reach for more books. For example, Nigel Slater's autobiography Toast is a charming book, and I would recommend it to anyone, but that's about it really, a good read. End of story. It certainly wouldn't inspre anyone to reach for a George Orwell (and why is he not on the list?)

It says they asked 20,000 people, (I presume the question was roughly what book had they really enjoyed and would recommend to someone else) the twenty-five titles were then selected by a wide-ranging editorial committee, chaired by James Naughtie. The criteria for choosing them is not stated.

[Anna]

It would appear from this article in The Telegraph that WBN has had the effect of increasing the sales of the chosen books quite considerably.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8361865/World-Book-Night-Sales-go-up-despite-free-give-aways.html#