World Book Night 2011

[canadian_turtle]

This year marked the first World Book Night (not to be confused with World book Day on March 3) and I had the great pleasure of not only helping them out as a volunteer but also to be one of the 20,000 givers to get a batch of 48 books of one of the 25 chosen titles to hand out on the night of March 5th and thereafter. A total of one million free books will have 'released' across the UK and Ireland when everyone has given all their books away (I know 20,000 times 48 does not equal one million, the remaining books are given to hospitals, prisons, etc. by WBN directly).

I received 48 copies of Northern Lights by Philip Pullman to give away (with a special World Book Night cover and info on the inside and everything) and I picked them up at my local library on Saturday morning where I also met two other givers who were kind enough to offer me copies of their books One Day and A Fine Balance! Receiving free books is a fabulous start to the day, I must say. I spent most of Saturday morning/afternoon registering the books on bookcrossing.com, writing the individual identification numbers in them and basically getting them ready for handing out in the evening. While it was a long process it was a satisfying one too (even though writing in the books felt so very, very wrong).

There were thousands of events across the country for WBN and I went to the one in the South Bank Centre's Royal Festival Hall in London which consisted of readings from debuting and well-known authors. The first few weren't particularly interesting to me until Joe Dunthorne came on and read the first chapter of his novel Submarine (of which a movie adaptation will be released in cinemas soon). It was very quirky and funny and definitely made me want to seek out the novel. Also wonderful were Margaret Atwood and Mark Haddon. I even managed to catch Mark afterwards to get him to sign my copy of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which he not only personalised but also drew a picture in, awesome! When all the guest speakers had finished I (and several other givers) gave away the books I had brought with me (not all 48 copies though as I couldn't carry them all) and it was wonderful to see people's faces lit up after receiving a free book without any strings attached. Some people asked me questions about the book and I also got into discussions about the various other titles being handed out on WBN which was just fabulous.

I also attended the launch in Trafalgar Square on March 4th and while it was absolutely freezing I had a great time. The evening started of with receiving a World Book Night t-shirt and a free book and book magazine from the Waterstones booth (score!) and it only got better from that point onwards. The event consisted of readings from books, poems and short stories and was hosted by Graham Norton who was absolutely hilarious throughout (point in case: "Many of you may be surprised to learn I can actually read."). Celebrity speakers included: PHILIP PULLMAN, STANLEY TUCCI, DBC Pierre, Sarah Waters, BORIS JOHNSON, Alan Bennett, RUPERT EVERETT, John Le Carré, Nick Cave, Hayley Atwell, MARGARET ATWOOD, Monica Ali, Suggs, Lemn Sissay, DAVID NICHOLLS, Edna O'Brien and MARK HADDON. Highlights: Boris Johnson reading an account of a hangover, Philip Pullman reading an excerpt from Northern Lights with wonderful voices for Iorek Byrnison and Lee Scoresby, a lovely poem reading by Stanley Tucci and Hayley Atwell, a touching reading from Stuart: A Life Backwards and David Nicholls reading a hilarious excerpt from his novel One Day (which I want to read asap now!).

As mentioned before I've given a bunch of my books away on the night itself and I am planning to 'release' the rest in the London public transport over the course of the next week. However before doing so I wanted to offer them up on here! So, who would like a free copy of Philip Pullman's Northern Lights? I am afraid I do have to see you in person in the next few months though so I don't have to hoard the books forever (and unfortunately I do not have the funds to send them over post either). Comment below if interested!






Graham Norton






Alan Bennett


Nelson's Column on Trafalgar Square


Rupert Everett


Mark Haddon


Boris Johnson


Lemn Sissay




Margaret Atwood


Suggs


David Nicholls


Hayley Atwell & Stanley Tucci




Philip Pullman


Nick Cave


John Le Carré

Comments

[gossy16.livejournal.com]

Sounds awesome! Also,

RUPERT EVERETT

Jealous!

p.s. Nick Cave's name deserves all caps too! It's NICK CAVE! :O

[never-evil.livejournal.com]

Philip Pullman. PHILIP PULLMAN. OMGZ LUCKYYYYYYYYY

Errr sorry I might slightly have a book crush on him? Have you read His Dark Materials or the Sally Lockhart books yet? I do encourage you to at some point.

btts

[angelofboox.livejournal.com]

Hi! (Saw your link on the World Book Night facebook page) We'd love to hear from you over at www.BridgeToTheStars.net (www.bridgetothestars.net), please drop us a visit! We have a thread on our forum for Northern Lights givers here (http://forum.bridgetothestars.net/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=212660). Our LJ community is btts_net.

[lucyinsky.livejournal.com]

MARGARET ATWOOD!! Fantastic. One of my faves.

Also, Stanley Tucci makes me melt.
Frickin' cool thing for you to do!

[decadentdream.livejournal.com]

Welll hello there Hayley Atwell... and Nick Cave... and I'm sure I know Philip Pullman but I'm not sure why...

You know, this post totally reminded me of all the SUPPORT literary work has in England. I rather forgot about that point, but I was just having flashbacks to all the posters in the underground when I was there last.

ETA: I have lost my command of the English language haha

[applebeing.livejournal.com]

You have your capitals all wrong! (Margaret and Boris may keep theirs, but how could you not capitalise Mark Haddon, especially after your awesome signed copy of what is a truly wonderful book?)

Given that I've never read any Pullman and I'm seeing you in the not so dim and distant future, I don't strongly object to alleviating you of a copy of Northern Lights. ;P

[artic-fox.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a wonderful night. I'm sorry I couldn't join you, but you clearly had an awesome time! I'm jealous you met Mark Haddon as Curious Incident is one of my favourite books.

Well done

[mgakuwentongbuhayatnobela.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

Well done Zarina! Im impressed with the photos. Can I feature you and one or two photos in my blogsite? Unfortunately, I was not able to attend coz of my location, but I asked friends to attend but they did not able to take pictures. Im interested to get a copy but I live in Northern Ireland. I could pay for the postage (thru paypal). Thanks again for sharing this. Best regards, Rey (created the WBN thread).

[chrryblssmninja.livejournal.com]

sounds like a fine time!

[singingcrayon.livejournal.com]

Hello, Wasn't it great! I debated giving out Northern Lights as like one of your readers I have a book crush on Pullman. I asked for Curious Incident but I ended up with Life of Pi which is also fantastic. I gave the first copy to a guy at the bus stop outside the library because he randomly told me a story. Soon after I saw a pile of world book day tomes in a cafe so walked in. The books turned out to be from Jamie who started WBN and he gave me Reluctant Fundamentalist. And then a bookseller gave me a volume I hadn't heard of, its about a homeless man. I left copies on public transport, gave some out in waiting areas, colleagues, and anyone who looked like they wanted a good book. If you're in London I can give you a copy too.