World Book Night plans a second year of book giveaways
- Titles range from 'Fahrenheit 451' to 'Bossypants'
- 25,000 volunteer "book givers" are sought
- Half a million books to be distributed to "underserved"
The second annual World Book Night U.S. will be held April 23, when 25,000 volunteers will be enlisted to give away 500,000 paperback books.
This year's titles, announced today, will range from classics such as Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 to Tina Fey's 2011 comic best seller, Bossypants.
The 30 books to be given away, chosen by a panel of booksellers and librarians, also include works by Mark Twain, John Grisham, Alexander McCall Smith and Nora Roberts. Two books will be available in English and Spanish: Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street and Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist.
The honorary chairpersons of World Book Night will be best-selling novelists Ann Patchett and James Patterson. (Patterson's kids' book Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is among the 30 titles to be given away. Patchett's 2001 novel, Bel Canto, was on the list last year.)
It's the second year that a coalition of U.S. publishers, booksellers and librarians are organizing the national effort, modeled on a British program that began in 2010. The goal is "to get good books in the hands of people who are underserved because of income or location or other reasons," Carl Lennertz, its director, says.
Last year, volunteers gave away books at prisons, health clinics, Indian reservations, schools and bars. Costs of the paperback World Book Night special editions are underwritten by publishers, printers and paper companies.
Readers who want to serve as book givers can apply online at worldbooknight.org through Jan. 23, 2013, by answering a few questions and picking a book title to give out from the list of 30 titles.
"This isn't a best-books-of-all-time list," says Lennertz, a former publishing executive and author of the memoir Cursed By a Happy Childhood. "These are contemporary or classic books that appeal to a wide range of new readers. We looked for diversity and variety in all things: subject matter, age level, gender, as well as ethnic and geographic considerations. Last year's givers also got to nominate books."
He calls it a "beautiful mix with, I hope, some old friends and nice surprises! And we thank the authors, who have agreed to waive royalties on the World Book Night editions."
The other titles are:
-- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
-- City of Thieves by David Benioff
-- My Antonia by Willa Cather
-- Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
-- The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
-- The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
-- Still Alice by Lisa Genova
-- Looking for Alaska by John Green
-- Playing for Pizza by John Grisham
-- Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
-- The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
-- Moneyball by Michael Lewis
-- The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
-- Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
-- Population: 485 by Michael Perry
-- Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
-- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
-- Montana Sky by Nora Roberts
-- Look Again by Lisa Scottoline
-- Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
-- The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
-- Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith
-- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain
-- Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
-- Favorite American Poems; Large Print edition, various authors