World Book Night: the most popular books and which Broadway show is getting involved
World Book Night 鈥� the celebration of the birthdays of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes that finds volunteers handing out free books all over the world 鈥� has arrived.
The event is being held in America this year for the second year in a row. Germany also held its first Book Night last year, while the UK and Ireland kicked off their celebrations for the first time in 2011.
On World Book Night, volunteers hand out free copies of any of 20 pre-selected books to friends, family members, and strangers on the street, all in an attempt to get the public reading. A committee of librarians and those involved in the bookselling business choose the titles to be distributed each year, and for 2013, the books being handed out include titles as varied as 鈥�Moneyball鈥� by Michael Lewis; 鈥淏ossypants鈥� by Tina Fey; 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� by Margaret Atwood; 鈥淪till Alice鈥� by Lisa Genova; and 鈥淕ood Omens鈥� by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
Joining in the 2013 celebration will be a Broadway show. At tonight鈥檚 performance of the current Broadway revival of the musical 鈥淎nnie鈥� 鈥� which tells the story of a plucky orphan living during the Depression 鈥� books will be given to each audience member with a ticket. The books' recipients will be encouraged to pass them along to someone who isn鈥檛 necessarily drawn to reading. The three books chosen for distribution at "Annie" 鈥� 鈥淭he Phantom Tollbooth鈥� by Norton Juster; 鈥�The Lightning Thief鈥� by Rick Riordan; and 鈥淟ooking for Alaska鈥� by John Green 鈥� were picked because they were viewed as titles capable of luring in wary readers.
Naturally, however, different titles appeal to different types of readers. In St. Louis, bookstore worker Katie Stepanek of The Book House told the that volunteers who were coming in to pick up books to distribute were most often asking for 鈥淕ood Omens鈥� and 鈥淭he Lightning Thief.鈥�
Volunteers took to Twitter today to express their happiness about the celebration.
鈥淭his rainy day is PERFECT for giving out books on !鈥� Twitter user tweeted. 鈥淲hat better kind of day to start reading!! So excited!鈥�
User tweeted her support for her fellow participants.
鈥淐heers to all my fellow volunteer givers,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淗ave fun spreading the love of reading tonight!鈥�
According to World Book Night鈥檚 website, hundreds of kick-off events and celebrations of those who are giving out books will be held today all over the world.
Wondering what鈥檚 going on in your area? Check out World Book Night鈥檚 events .
