Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Today in our ongoing national embarrassment…

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

We will not go back.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

The fight for our country is always worth it. ~Kamala Harris

I really should read my own blog.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

You are here: Home / Books / World Book Night

World Book Night

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Commentor Alison just reminded me — today is World Book Night 2012:

World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books. To be held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on April 23, 2012. It will see tens of thousands of people go out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks.

I’ll admit I had not heard of this celebration until Paul Constant at the Stranger asked his readers where he should distribute his copies of A Prayer for Owen Meany.

I’l also admit I’ve only read a few of this year’s 30 books: Kindred (which is a masterpiece, but not an easy read), The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (also excellent), I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (the only one I think is on just about every American high school’s required-reading list), My Sister’s Keeper (a good page-turner with an infuriating cheat of an ending, IMO). And The Poisonwood Bible, The Glass Castle, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks are on my To-Be-Read stack… well, shelf… okay, multiple bookcases. (Blogging plays hell with my capacity for long-form reading.)

The planners certainly can’t be accused of making the easy, popular choices; I doubt there’s a single one these books that hasn’t drawn a perturbed response from some “concerned parent” or library-suspicious “citizen voter” worried about naughty words, sensitive topics, the decline of classicism, or the bane of multiculturalism.

Anybody else here participating in World Book Night — or been waylaid by one of the Givers already?

Reader Interactions

88Comments

  2. 2.

    gaz

    The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

    Good book. I also saw him speak. He’s localish to me.

  4. 4.

    Michael57

    I own a bookstore and we were a distribution point where all the local book givers picked up their books. They’ll be giving out free books all over town–mostly in places where you don’t find a lot of readers. It’s a great effort, and I should point out it’s almost fully funded by the same publishers that are now getting a bad rap from the DOJ.

  5. 5.

    Steve

    The only books I have read out of the 30 are Ender’s Game (ha!) and The Stand (unabridged version; I had a night job). I might have read A Prayer for Owen Meany, but you know, all those John Irving novels sort of run together…

  6. 6.

    Shinobi

    I wish I’d known about this earlier. I live right by a high school and could have given out books to some of the kids on their way home from school. Maybe next year I’ll see about working with the community center by my house.

  7. 7.

    BGinCHI

    @JPL: Why, right here.

    /holds out virtual arms

    ETA: Honesty update: also at your local tavern, or in a research library.

  8. 8.

    gaz

    @Steve: Man, if you’ve read the stand, and skipped over the Dark Tower series (esp the 1st book, the Gunslinger) you’re missing out. That’s all I have to say about that. =) cheers.

    Edit: oops I misread you. But I’d add that if The Stand is in that list, the Gunslinger probably deserved it more, IMO

  9. 9.

    JPL

    The book list has something for everyone. Poisonwood Bible is one of my all time favorites and I also read Sue Grafton. I’m reading The Lemon Tree a non-fiction book about a relationship between a Palestinian and Israeli.

  11. 11.

    MattR

    Was poking around Amazon last night looking for books to bring on a cross country flight in May (and for the Caribbean in August) and realized once again how much I miss actual bookstores. It is so much nicer to see everything in a nice display in front of you. So, does anyone have suggestions for some summer reading? Generally I am into the sci-fi/fantasy stuff but I like a good mystery and non-fiction is OK too. I am just looking to avoid anything with a topic that will depress or anger me.

  12. 12.

    arguingwithsignposts

    I’ll admit I had not heard of this celebration

    There’s a celebration for every damned thing these days.

  13. 13.

    Alison

    yay, thanks for posting about this :) I’m going to be heading out to distribute my books soon and can’t wait. Following all the responses and experiences from other givers on twitter has been really cool – people are so jazzed to get a free book, it makes you feel a little better about humanity :)

    If anyone thinks they might enjoy doing this, please go sign up for the email list at the site! I have a feeling it’s going to grow exponentially even just by next year, judging by the reactions and feedback.

  14. 14.

    Redshift

    I saw somebody post this morning about giving out Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens. I don’t see it on the list, though, so I guess it was a rogue operation.

  15. 15.

    Middlewest

    The Things They Carried was the introductory text in my freshman seminar, and I can still remember whole passages from it. Should be required reading for chickenhawks.

  17. 17.

    Yutsano

    @JPL: Ashland, Oregon works. They have a huge Shakespeare festival there and some of the theaters stay open year round.

  19. 19.

    Alison

    @Redshift: Haha, yeah must be – the organization ships each giver specially printed editions of the book they’ll be giving out. You do have to “apply” to be a giver and not everyone gets in, so perhaps this person didn’t and decided to do their own version – still cool! :)

  23. 23.

    JPL

    Allison thanks for posting about this. Hopefully it grows. The board of directors was interesting because the major bookseller was missing. I still support Barnes and Noble and a used book seller near me but most of the indies are gone.

  25. 25.

    scav

    BGinCHI and JPL iambic huggeth and Freebies for other Shakespeareans, Twelfth Night as mp3 here for a few more days (two more to follow) and various other stuff here (the Restless World one is audio and thus easily available for non-brits).

  26. 26.

    BethanyAnne

    I loved “The Poisonwood Bible” – read it years ago. I have been making a little more time for reading recently, but I don’t read fiction much anymore. Mostly it’s design or psych or neuroscience – or lightweight layperson versions of same. I just finished “The Righteous Mind”, which I really enjoyed, and I think I’m going to try and finish Corey Robin’s book next.

  27. 27.

    Alison

    @JPL: A lot of B&N stores have been supporting WBN, which is cool. They were pick-up spots for givers to get their shipments and some hosted pick-up parties and such :)

    @BethanyAnne: If you liked TPB and want to get back into fiction, I’d recommend another Kingsolver book, Prodigal Summer. Loved it.

  28. 28.

    Yutsano

    @BGinCHI: I admit that even with my close proximity I have never been. I will need to rectify that in the future.

    BTW has anyone checked the Google doodle today? I bet it’s a good’un.

  29. 29.

    General Stuck

    Literary news from The Big House

    Ever since Rod Blagojevich reported to the Englewood Federal Correctional Center outside Denver five and a half weeks ago, it’s as if he vanished from the face of the Earth. Nothing has been heard about his life behind bars.

    But on Sunday, FOX Chicago News learned exclusively that Illinois’ former governor is now washing pots and pans, and could soon be teaching Shakespeare and Greek mythology to other inmates.

    Far the fuck out. I’ve always thought convicts didn’t get near enough Shakespeare or Greek Mythology. Mr. Posts and Pans, will now fill that void to add meaning to his wicked life. I bet he makes a profit, some way, some how.

  30. 30.

    WereBear

    @MattR: IMHO, Jack Child’s kickass Jack Reacher series has plenty of action, but also keeps you guessing to the end; masterful suspense.

    My other fave is the “Prey” series featuring Lucas Davenport; even more graphic, a police detective protagonist, but lots of good twists and turns.

    Stephen King has been experiencing a talent resurgence, and I love his stuff anyway: Full Dark, No Stars has an incredible novella called “A Good Marriage” that was wonderful, and the others in the collection are great, as well.

    Sadly, I have not gotten much joy from science fiction for quite a while; I was spoiled by starting out with The Giants: what has been published lately is sadly lacking in quality. I hate to say that, I hate to feel that, because I love science fiction above all else. But there it is.

  31. 31.

    joel hanes

    @MattR:

    I like a good mystery

    If you’re also a bit of an Anglophile, and have not yet read Dorothy L. Sayers’s “Lord Peter Wimsey” mysteries, you’re in for a treat.

    Start with Murder Must Advertise to see if you like her work; if so, read ’em all, but you should definitely save the final three masterpieces Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night, and Busman’s Honeymoon for the last.

    Robertson Davies’s Fifth Business is another great literary mystery novel.

    Other great summer reads :

    for sailors, Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin books are hard to top, and they’ll fill an entire summer. If you’ve already read those, then perhaps Hall and Nordhoff’s Bounty trilogy will fit the bill.

    historical fiction : Dorothy Dunnett. Either the Lymond series or the Nicolo’ series, in order. I found them hard to start, but absolutely engrossing once well begun. Dunnett will have you flipping backwards, trying to find all the clues and foreshadowing that she put in plain sight and that you read right past without noticing. Brilliant historically, brilliant characters, superb adventure.

  33. 33.

    Redshift

    @MattR: Let’s see. It’s not new, but John Crowley’s Little, Big is one of my favorite books ever. It’s sort of fantasy, or perhaps magical realism.

    I’ve enjoyed George RR Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire books, too. That’s just off the top of my head.

  36. 36.

    cathyx

    @BGinCHI: @eemom: Thanks you guys. 50 is a big number, but it could be worse. Since I plan on living well past 100, I’m not even middle aged yet.

  38. 38.

    Michael57

    @Michael57: Funny, one of our local book givers just came in to say he was having fun giving out Stephen King on Main Street, and I had to beg him to get away from the bookstore. “We have to sell these things!” “Oh right, OK, I’m out!”

  41. 41.

    Michael57

    @WereBear: If you haven’t read Lee Child’s Reacher novels, you are in for a treat (i.e., 3000 pages and weeks of joyous obsessive reading). Start with The Killing Floor.

  43. 43.

    BGinCHI

    I highly recommend “Ready Player One,” by Ernest Cline.

    Check it out if you like dystopian sci-fi gaming coming-of-age thriller stuff.

    Trust me: fun as hell novel.

  46. 46.

    TOP123

    @joel hanes:

    Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin books are hard to top, and they’ll fill an entire summer. If you’ve already read those

    …or read them again. I’ve been through that series so many times the spines are cracking on the paperbacks. Great recommendation.

  47. 47.

    geg6

    Just bought The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks at a great local indie bookstore in Sewickley, Penguin Books. I love that place and they are the only place around that books authors for readings, not just book signings.

    Anyway, can’t wait to start it but I have to finish A Discovery of Witches first.

  48. 48.

    tofubo

    almost on topic (“the world…”; and almost timely, a month old…)

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17544565

    Amazon boss Jeff Bezos ‘finds Apollo 11 Moon engines’

    Mr Bezos said the five engines were found using advanced sonar scanning some 14,000ft (4,300m) below the Atlantic Ocean’s surface…described the F-1 as a “modern wonder” that boasted 32 million horsepower and burned 6,000lb (2,720kg) of rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen every second…

    if they could only fit that into a prius…

  49. 49.

    WereBear

    @geg6: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was an incredible book. As well done as it was, I think the way it sparks one’s brain into new paths even surpassed what the author intended.

  51. 51.

    geg6

    @cathyx:

    Hey, dammit! Fifty is NOT a big number. Fifty-four is. Because that is how old I’ll be come November.

    Anyway, hope you have a great day, you young whippersnapper, you!

  54. 54.

    PurpleGirl

    I’ve not heard of World Book Night. It sounds like a good idea. I’ve added an email to the subscription list for information next year.

  55. 55.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @joel hanes: I suggest reading C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series before Patrick O’Brian.

    If you like Dorothy Sayers, read Margery Allingham and Edmund Crispin.

    As for the WBN list 2012, I recommend The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao — the story of a Dominican sci-fi/fantasy fanboy growing up in New Jersey.

  56. 56.

    JPL

    The local news is telling me that the state government offices were closed today because of Confederate Memorial Day.

  57. 57.

    Suffern ACE

    I originally thought this was to commemorate the World Book, which helped me write so many papers in junior high.

  58. 58.

    PurpleGirl

    @MattR: I just finished the third book in a sci-fi/fantasy series by Celia Jerome. The novels so far are: Trolls in the Hamptons, Night Mares in the Hamptons and Fire Works in the Hamptons. They are contemporary, about a comic book writer who has special visualization abilities and the community she comes from. I’ve found them to be a fun and quick read, and not likely to raise my blood pressure. There is another one coming out in May (Life Guards in the Hamptons).

  59. 59.

    geg6

    @WereBear:

    That’s how I felt after reading The Warmth of Other Suns, about the Great Migration. A story I didn’t know much about other than the barest of facts. I’ve really gotten into black history lately. There was no Black History Month when I was a kid in the Sixties and early Seventies (duh) and I’m just getting around to discovering this rich vein of American history now. I’m loving it.

  60. 60.

    PurpleGirl

    @Yutsano: Just checked Google home page and it’s the regular Google logo. I was on Google earlier today and didn’t see anything special. It’s possible that if they did something to Shakespeare, they may have only coded it for Great Britain.

  62. 62.

    cathyx

    @ruemara: Thanks, ruemara. I’ve actually been celebrating since spring break when I went on a cruise for my pre-birthday. I’ve never had such a long birthday season before. It’s been so fun that I’m thinking of making it last the whole year.

  63. 63.

    Yutsano

    @PurpleGirl: Well fie on them. I suppose there won’t be any American Whovian love when the show anniversary comes back around.

    There is the possibility all the submitted doodles suck. Which is its own tragedy.

  64. 64.

    rikyrah

    I pretty much read five days a week – mostly on the daily commute. If I read on the weekend, I’ll read up my books like I did this weekend – had outings where there was nothing but time on my hands, and the book I thought I’d be reading this week, I finished all on Saturday.

    I love reading an actual book in my hands. I am resisting buying an ereader, because I just don’t wanna give into that.

  65. 65.

    joel hanes

    @MattR:

    Redshift’s taste is apparently similar to my own;
    I quite like Little Big, and am completely hooked by Martin’s Song of Fire And Ice

    If you like interstellar adventure, you could spend much of the summer catching up on the adventures of one Miles Vorkosigan in the books by Lois McMaster Bujold. Start with Shards of Honor or Cordelia’s Honor

    Redshift : Have you read Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion ?

  66. 66.

    HobbesAI

    While Ender’s Game is described as winner of the 1985 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1986 Hugo Award for Best Novel, the version currently available (the ‘Author’s Definitive Edition’) is, in my opinion, a substantially worse book.

  67. 67.

    daveNYC

    Went for a run in the park and got handed a copy of A Prayer foe Owen Meany on the way out. Good times.

  68. 68.

    WereBear

    I adore reading: just to give you an idea, I was the subject of TWO interventions in childhood, because I “read too much.” Cripes! Ya’ll were the ones who gave me books!

    And I have a storage unit JUST for the books Mr WereBear and I cannot give up. Out of print, rare, or just too damn good to let go of, I go into used book stores the same way I go into animal shelters: You need to be rescued, whether I have the room, or not.

    But I am a committed e-reader; I’m sorry. But this is the Brave New World: I love books, but I can put The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich on my iPod touch with $2.99 and no wrist stress. I can read the full version of The Stand NOW because it cost too dang much to print it back in the 1980’s. I can get the latest right away for $9.99 or 12.99; or buy the hardback for $36.00. But I can’t buy the hardback. Both because I can’t afford it, and because my tiny apartment doesn’t have the room.

    Must. Embrace. The Future. And that is not trucking wood pulp from one place to another.

  69. 69.

    handsmile

    On this morning’s open thread it was established that today may or may not also be the birthday of one of my favorite writers, Vladimir Nabokov. The uncertainty is the result of whether one uses the Julian or Gregorian calendar for his birth year (1889) in St. Petersburg.

    At the website “FamousBirthdays.com” here is the top five, in order: Mr. Shakespeare, Shirley Temple, John Cena, Michael Moore, Max Planck. Of these notables, I am happy to say I am unfamiliar with one.

    @cathyx: I hope today begins a splendid year (and decade) for you. I myself am about half-way through it and can report that time seems to be accelerating.

  70. 70.

    Michele C.

    “Housekeeping” was one of my favorite books in high school. I haven’t read them all, but it seems a great list and a great idea. I wish someone would give me one of the ones I haven’t read. I also wish I still owned copies of books that aren’t in storage, but that would require a different life than I now lead (a bit nomadic these days).

    Happy World Book Night!

  71. 71.

    Arclite

    I plan on celebrating by reading a few Chapters in Game of Thrones. AFTER I put an hour or two into the Diablo III beta…

  72. 72.

    Bago

    @Yutsano: I set up a Geodesic dome at a Shakespeare theater in Berkeley once, in order to watch an art jet engine blast against an underpass. Being able to truthfully construct a sentence like that is the best part about burning man.

  74. 74.

    melanie

    @MattR: I’ve been reading William Gibson’s last three books (not all at once) — Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, and Zero History — and enjoying them. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens is also pretty good.

  77. 77.

    Birthmarker

    Doug–Read in this order

    Glass Castle

    Poison wood Bible

    Harietta Lack.

    The best book I read last year was Nothing to Envy, which is about North Korea.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack

    @handsmile:

    On this morning’s open thread it was established that today may or may not also be the birthday of one of my favorite writers, Vladimir Nabokov. The uncertainty is the result of whether one uses the Julian or Gregorian calendar for his birth year (1889) in St. Petersburg.

    Slight correction clarification: the Julian/Gregorian split is 12-13 days (depending on the year), not one day. The one-day Nabokov problem is because you add 12 days to Julian dates before March 1, 1900, and 13 days to Julian dates on or after March 1, 1900. Wikipedia explains Nabokov’s particular case here.

    Jeez, I need to get a life. Not enough to do today, so my inner copyeditor/fact checker was flaring up.

  79. 79.

    Steeplejack

    @MattR:

    The best science fiction I have read lately is the “Culture” series by Iain M. Banks. Overkill fanboi-ish Wikipedia article here. Maybe better just to dive in with Consider Phlebas (1987) or Player of Games (1988). The latter is particularly good, as is Excession (1996).

    Most recently I just finished Robert Charles Wilson’s Darwinia (1998). I like Wilson’s books, but they are problematic: really good “big” ideas worked through pretty well, but usually his plots are hindered by soap-operatic love stories and relationship sidetracks. Of his other books, I liked the trilogy that started with Spin (2005), and The Chronoliths (2001) really stuck with me, although it has a particularly maddening soap-operatic distraction.

    Darwinia is a plug for having an e-reader. I couldn’t find the paperback anywhere, finally thought to look for it on my Nook. Problem solved! (Of course, now I see that the paperback is available on Amazon again. But the e-book was cheaper anyway.)

  80. 80.

    Sentient Puddle

    So I feel like I’m a total poseur and/or way behind on the times, but I am reading The Hunger Games series. But hey, it’s on the list.

  81. 81.

    Jennifer

    Had not heard of the book day. Great list – but it was severely lacking in Salman Rushdie and Mario Vargas Llosa. I’ve read 10 of the titles on the list & all of them were good so I’m guessing all the others would be, too.

  82. 82.

    Comrade Mary

    World Book Night hasn’t made it to Canada yet (because Indigo sucks), but I got lucky because I was in Rochester over the weekend at a conference.

    (Does the latter clause count as an impossibility? Just asking.)

    One of the vendors had a small stack of books to give away (mostly The Stand), but I got Dave Eggars’ Zeitoun instead, which looks like it’s going to be a great, if depressing, read.

  83. 83.

    Mnemosyne

    @Steeplejack:

    Did you catch the in-joke in Hot Fuzz where one twin of a pair reads Iain Banks and the other reads Iain M. Banks?

    (For the uninitiated, Banks uses the M. for his science fiction and no initial for his other fiction.)

  84. 84.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne:

    Yeah, I did.

    Speaking of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, a few months ago I finally got around to watching Paul and found it surprisingly funny. My memory from the trailer when it was in theaters was that it would suck. Go figure.

  85. 85.

    The prophet Nostradumbass

    I would also recommend the Poisonwood Bible, it’s a very good book. The father character is really creepy.

    The Michael Connelly book is pretty good; they made a mediocre movie out of it, starring Clint Eastwood, who was way too old for the lead character.

  86. 86.

    Monkey in Holland

    Interesting World Book Night falls on Saint George’s day. In Catalunya, Spain, the tradition on the 23rd is to exchange a book for a rose. Wonder if there’s any connection.

    My recommendations for anyone interested:

    Philip Kerr’s “Berlin Noirs Trilogy” for crime fiction set in 1930s Germany.

    “Gun with Occasional Music” by Jonathan Lethem where hitmen come in the form of Kangaroos.

    “Lost Paradise: A Novel” by Cees Nooteboom is a compact, lyrical book about angels, totems and life, that takes readers from Brazil to Australia to Germany and Holland.

    “Dirty Job” by Christopher Moore. A dark comedy where death’s helpers come in the form of thrift store, used CD and book shop owners. The battle between dark and darker takes place under modern day San Francisco.

  87. 87.

    Ivy vann

    I took a box of “The Glass Castle ” paperbacks from my local WBN vendor. I am out of town right now, but I will distribute them later at the community supper that I manage. The idea is that someone who loves the book talks it up to individuals who are infrequent readers, in the hopes of opening up the idea of reading for pleasure. I am really excited about the possibilities! Such a good idea.

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