Monday 23 April 2012

World Book Night


"In the UK, 20,000 passionate readers will gift 24 copies of one of their favourite books to encourage those who don't regularly read to fall in love with reading. In addition World Book Night will be giving a further 620,000 books over the course of the year directly to the hardest to reach readers through prisons, care homes, hospitals, sheltered housing, homeless shelters, libraries and through other partner charities."- www.worldbooknight.org

I'm a very passionate reader, and have been since I was very little. Days with my Gran would be spent visiting the library or raking through her bookshelves, devouring everything I could get my small hands on. I was encouraged to read print all around me from a very young age, and I firmly believe that this encouragement started my love for the printed word. 

Growing up I read as much Enid Blyton as I could get my hands on, and I adored stories about girls at boarding school, imagining that they had a fantastic, adventurous lives far from home. I spent many nights hiding under the covers reading Goosebumps and Shivers books, and eventually moved onto "classics"; my favourites being Pollyanna and Little Women. Oh, how I would have loved to have been one of the March sisters. 

As the teenage years approached, I found comfort in Judy Blume and Jacqueline Wilson books, before starting on the usual "coming of age" novels. 

These days, I am open to reading anything. I have a list of "to-read" books, all of which I have purchased and the total currently sits at 160. I have a bit of a book-buying obsession!

When I first heard about World Book Night, I decided that I had to register to be a giver. There was no doubt in my mind about my need and want to share my love of reading with the world. You had the option of choosing from 25 books and I chose to give Pride & Prejudice, a classic by the wonderful Jane Austen. Slightly predictable, maybe, but I adore it.  I received an email a few months ago saying that I had been chosen to be a giver. Cue epic excitement!


I collected my books last Monday, and I have to say that they are just beautiful! Each book includes one of Shakespeare's sonnets on the back page, to celebrate his birth and death day, which falls on World Book Night. 

One of the requirements of being a giver is that you pass on the books to non-readers, and to pass on your passion to encourage others to read. I had originally planned to hand out books to parent's of children at my work, but circumstances changed and I woke up this morning at a bit of a loss. Thankfully, I found an event near by at Howden Park Centre in Livingston, and managed to pass on a few books there. I also braved chapping on some of my neighbours doors, and was met with much more positive reactions than I had anticipated! 



I even managed to pick up a couple of books for myself at the event, as a local library had donated a large volume of books to be shared. 

I feel so grateful to be part of this wonderful night, and have really enjoyed reading other people's stories on Twitter. Search #worldbooknight to follow the night's action.

I still have a couple of books left, so if you would like one leave a comment with your email address and I'll contact you to get your details to post one out to you!

Were you chosen to be a giver? Are you a reader or do you never find the time? Share your stories please!



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