World Book Night 2013

World Book Night 2013 titles!

What is World Book Night?
Entering into its third year, WBN is at its core, an initiative to get more people reading. With literacy rates falling and people spending more time interacting with their electronic devices instead of the physical written word, it's no wonder that such a programme came about. In total, a million books are given away on the 23rd April and people who receive copies are encouraged to pass the book on when they've finished in order to spread the message about the books that have been chosen.


World Book Night 2013 UK
There are 20 titles for 2013 and they're looking for 20,000 givers to receive 20 copies of their chosen title to give away! It's slightly different than previous years, because WBN 2012 had 25 titles and givers received 24 copies, but the changes have been heavily based on feedback given by 2012 givers and so it makes sense that they've gone with what works best.

World Book Night Worldwide
WBN runs also in the USA and Germany and I'm always fascinated by the differences in the titles chosen (well, in the USA. A cursory navigation of the German site just goes to show how little of my GCSE German I've retained). Last year, I would have loved a copy of Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson that was one of the US titles up for grabs. This year, they have Nora Roberts' Montana Sky which made me squeal! The UK listings definitely need to feature more romance/chicklit (my definition of it, that is; even one title would do) and Montana Sky is one of my favourite NR standalone titles in that 'series', but I think there are better ones to induct a newbie into the world of NR. Oh well.


I've read fewer of the 2013 titles than I had the 2012 ones, and so it definitely narrowed down my choice a bit. Nevertheless, I've heard of/know about half of them and I do love the range that they've selected for this year, including a graphic novel and a short story. In my opinion, the UK titles could do with a few more 'contemporary' titles as I feel that the selection is very biased towards 'traditional British fiction', but that might just be my prejudices and naivity about the titles bursting through.

I had a fantastic time giving away my copies of Cormac McCarthy's The Road in 2012 and I would love for the opportunity to take part again this coming year.

What about you? Are you going to apply to be a giver? If so, what titles have you read that you're passionate about giving away? What titles would you like to see on the list for 2014?

Read about my 2012 experience as a giver here and here