The books above are my collection so far for the month of March – the first of which I started a couple of days ago. Three presents (one of which was a book given out free with a newspaper) and one charity shop purchase of two pounds. Endless Reads 2012 is going at a fair old pace. So far I’ve been pretty good about not buying too many, mostly thanks to the generosity of others. So I felt this was a relevant (if slightly awkward) segue into the fact that it’s World Book Day today in Ireland and the UK! But not the rest of the world. The rest of the world celebrates World Book Day on the 23rd of April, but the day was moved to the first Thursday in March in Ireland and the UK, according to Wikipedia, to avoid having it fall in the Easter holidays.
Today, every child in education (up to the age of 18) will receive a one pound book token which they can use to help cover the cost of a book, or to buy a specially printed book for a pound. It’s a pretty wonderful thing, although none of the cheap books seem to be particularly long reads, which is a shame for more advanced readers. I’d have loved to get my hands on some more challenging books if the scheme had been in place when I was younger. I was reading Les Miserables (along with a lot of other more age-appropriate fiction) when I was twelve or thirteen, and reading has always been my main occupation – in that respect perhaps I wasn’t really the target audience. Still, maybe they’ll eventually print up some copy-right free classics (usually available for three quid or less anyway).
I’m not doing much for today – other than reading, which I do every day anyway – but I will getting actively involved in World Book Night (which is the evening of World Book Day, so, on the 23rd of April). In the UK (and Ireland? I’m not sure) and in the US, book enthusiasts sign up to hand out 24 copies of one of a hundred books chosen by national poll as a ‘great read’.
I’m going to be wandering around North and South Bridge in the centre of Edinburgh, merrily foisting a free copy of my book of choice to non-readers. The vetting process was quite strident – I had to fill out a form saying what I wanted to give out (from the list of a hundred, chosen by readers’ votes) and why, who I would give the book out to and why, where I was going to stand and why – Mostly, because I think books are ugly and beautiful and can give insight into the human condition and make us slightly kinder and more at ease with human difference, and that no one should be denied a book just because it’s too expensive, or they think libraries are not for them or what have you. In the end, I got through, and was chosen as a giver – and though it’s over a month away, I’m really looking forward to the event.
I chose I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith. There were a lot of books on the list that I liked, so why this particular one? Why not one of my favourites, Ishiguro’s The Remains Of The Day? One is a sweet, mildly funny coming-of-age-and-love story set in a marvelous crumbling English castle (rented by the protagonists) featuring a keen writer and some dashing American visitors – the other is an achingly beautiful meditation on aging, loyalty and loss as seen through the eyes of an uptight butler on his holidays. Which would be easiest and most inspiring for a non-reader to read? I wanted immediate appeal, which would open the world of books up to a reluctant reader, rather than risk putting them off with a licorice sort of book.
Are you getting involved in World Book Day or Night? If not, which book would you give away to non-readers to really draw them towards reading?
Schietree 
I think you made a good choice. I loved The Remains of the Day but its beauty is the quiet kind and not necessarily something to promote the charms of reading as entertainment. I would choose Scarlet Feather by Maeve Binchy, or The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher.
I haven’t heard of World Book Day, though I do my own clandestine book-plants all year: when I’ve finished with a book, I will leave it in a public place like a waiting room or coffee shop. I never know what happens after that, but I like to imagine that the books are found and loved by someone I’ve never met. Sometimes I leave a note inside.
I really love that, Averil – I know I’d be very pleased at finding a free book, and especially touched by a note.
You can get involved with World Book Night next year, if you fancy.
This was a dare you gave me a few weeks ago. I haven’t done it yet but it’s been on my mind. I loved the idea when you first suggested it.
This is wonderful, Helen. I’ve heard of I Capture the Castle and had been meaning to find it and read it to my kids. Thanks for the reminder. Remains of the Day is my beloved’s favorite book of all time. Funny, these connections.
It is such an enjoyable read. I heard that Dodie Smith wrote it while in America, desperately homesick – so she was trying to capture the England of her imagination.
And your beloved has good taste, I’d say.
I didn’t know of Book Night either. I love the idea!
I would have such a hard time choosing a book. Perhaps a book that worked it’s magic on me as a child “The Phantom Tollbooth” by Norman Juster…
I’ve so many favourites.
Oh I loved that one too – so strange and compelling. But yes, there are so many that fit that bill.
Rebecca by du Maurier is a beautiful and haunting story, very readable yet the prose leaves an impression–that’s a book I’d hand out–or strangely enough, Forver Amber by Kathleen Winsor–historical bodice ripper I wish someone would serialized for cable.
I still haven’t read Rebecca. I think I should check the library soon for it.
I haven’t done a thing for World Book Day, except encourage my youngest to persevere with the book he is struggling through and continue promoting my own. I used to run a bar in West Africa with my ex and one of the most successful parts to our business was the Book Exchange Box. I stripped back an old wooden box and left it open with a sign. It soon filled with volumes and always had students or passers-by on bended knee searching through. I picked out ‘The Shining’ and raced through it, almost embarrassed to be reading Stephen King. But the book was so compelling I had nightmares!