After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.

-Phillip Pullman

 

Applications to participate in World Book Night are now open! This is very exciting, as I have participated in WBN for the last two years and loved it. The first year, though I wasn’t an official giver, I helped a friend hand out The Kite Runner at homeless shelters around the Kansas City Area. This last year, I handed out Good Omens to library patrons, homeless patrons and hospital patients. I made little notes on the books…

Hey, I just met you. And this crazy! But take me home and read me, maybe?

 

I don’t mean to brag, but I’m kind of a great read…

 

You should spend the weekend curled up with me.

 

…and I also printed off a little blurb about what World Book Night is, how they can get involved and where they can mail a review of the book! I was able to hand out all but two of the books. The last two I stuck on our “Free Book Shelf” in the library. The shelf is utilized by members of the community, as well as the patients of the hospital. 

The books chosen for 2014 are all fantastic! I’m super excited that Where’d You Go, Bernadette? is on the list, since I LOVED that book. They even have Spanish language, large print and juvenile/YA books to choose from. My top three picks were:

1. Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
2. Same Difference by Derek Kirk Kim
3. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

Any of those would be fabulous books to hand out, and if I had a choice I would have taken a bunch of different titles to hand out! 

So think of this post as a reminder if you have participated in WBN, an introduction to WBN if you have never heard of it, or a plea to donate if you can’t hand out books.