World Book Night

[Jaya]

World Book Night represents the most ambitious and far-reaching celebration of adult books and reading ever attempted in the UK and Ireland.

On Saturday, 5 March 2011, one million books will be given away by an army of passionate readers to members of the public across the UK and Ireland.

The book give-away will comprise 40,000 copies of each of the 25 carefully selected titles, one of which is Northern Lights, to be given away by 20,000 ‘givers’, who will each distribute 48 copies of their chosen title to whomever they choose on World Book Night. The remaining books will be distributed by World Book Night itself in places that might otherwise be difficult to reach, such as prisons and hospitals.

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Discuss Northern Lights’s part in World Book Night here! If you’re a giver, tell us why you picked Northern Lights to distribute, what you’ll be doing on the night, and who you’ll be giving to.

[Jaya]

Not Northern Lights, but I've got my books to give out.



And made some of these slips of paper in case I bump into any HDM fans at tonight's bash.

[Anoria]

One of the people selected to give out copies of NL tonight has commented about her experiences in our news section. To make her inspiring response a bit more easily accessible, I'm quoting it here:

I was a giver of Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights today.
I love the trilogy and have read it at least 4 times, every year I get the compulsion to read it again! My father was a science-fiction writer and translator and I was exposed to the genre as soon as I could read. I love the concept of alternative universes which share dimensions in time or space. Other than Philip Pullman, some of my favorites SF writers are Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, Iain M. Banks and Ursula Le Guin. I rate Pullman among the best. My favourite of his concept in the Dark Materials trilogy is the idea of the soul standing separate from the body and being represented by an animal. It leads to some extraordinary developments and consequences.
I chose to distribute my 48 books in an estate in the Watford area (I live in central Watford). I figured that I would find there a community which may not be able to afford to buy books, may not access libraries (the central library is in the other side of town and public transport poor) and may need a bit of magic and fantasy and what a better book to encourage people to read. I was right! most people I spoke with had not heard of the book at all! A few told me that there used to be a mobile library but this has been cancelled, and some elderly people have mobility problems. I emphasised the wider readership from children to adults. Some teenagers giggled but seemed appreciative of the gift. Most people were astounded that a book was given as a gift without any conditions attached!
I have thoroughly enjoyed the day, and wished I had had more books to distribute.
I still feel the buzz! It was a brilliant idea, and I am thankful to have been a part of it. Thank you to all those who made this possible!!!

[particle23]

I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the 20,000 givers for the first WBN which took place yesterday evening and even more lucky to be given my first choice of books to distribute - Northern Lights.

I took my 8 year old daughter along with me, so as to appear more amiable, to Portsmouth City Center in the late afternoon. My initial response was mixed, people must have thought there was some sort of catch, something for nothing is not a concept a lot of people understand. We eventually got into the swing of it and the response was brilliant.

A group of three teenage girls eating biscuits took a copy each, my hope was they read it together and have something to discuss other than Justin Bieber. My daughter was smiling as they offered her a biscuit and delighted in hearing them say that she was so cute as we walked away.

One young couple I gave a book to asked if this was part of the story with Lyra in it and remarked that their sister had the books but they had never read it. I was promised they would both read it and let me know how they got on by visiting the WBN website and entering the code in the back of the book to access the page for that particular copy of that particular book and they were also going to pass it on after they read it and spread the love!

After giving away 20 or so books I went to pick up my 12 year old daughter from a party and gave a few books out to some of her friends. I thought a group of 12 year old girls could not be a better target audience for this particular story!

All three of us then headed down to Portsmouth and Southsea train station which also happens to be the Gosport ferry port, Bus Station and National Express stop as well.
I gave a copy to the Big Issue seller, a copy to a Norwegian guy heading home after watching a Pompey home game (we discussed the real northern lights he gets to see at home!) I gave a copy to four middle aged women heading home to London one of them already had TSK but not NL so this book was going to make her book at home make more sense.

All in all it was a great success and most people were open to the idea of WBN and a few had even heard of it and were quite surprised to find themselves with one of the million books being given away. I definitely recommend anyone to apply to become a giver for next year - I know I'll be applying again.

[Jaya]

particle23, your World Book Night sounds very successful!

I went to the Trafalgar Square event on Friday night, and here's my haul from the evening:



Always delightful to be the recipient of free stuff. Also handed out a few copies of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. There were a lot more readings than I thought there'd be, including Margaret Atwood, Alan Bennett, Rupert Everett, Mark Haddon, John le Carré, Monica Ali, Boris Johnson, Nick Cave, David Nicholls, Stanley Tucci... and of course, Philip Pullman.

Pullman did a reading of an extract of Northern Lights, which I recorded most of and is now up on the site. He read the part in which Lyra first meets Iorek Byrnison, delightfully with voices.

Interestingly, the extract that David Nicholls read from his book, One Day, was far funnier when he read it than I found it to be when I was reading the book. John le Carré's reading was great too....but they were all quite good. Just about worth not being able to feel my fingers and toes at the end due to the cold.

[Jaya]

Mike Singleton was giving out copies of Northern Lights in Newcastle:

Hi, most of what happened is on the blog post.

Original plan was to give away a book at each Metro Station , but that was completely unfeasible.

The plans were fluid (ie almost non existent) but that meant we could change quickly and easily.

My friend Helen and her children helped on the night , they love the book and the film (which I still havent seen).

Highlights of the night were the many positive responses we got from lots of people.

And we weren't in one place, it was done on Metro trains , stations and the airport.

A great night!

Keep in touch - I'll find you on facebook!!