Thursday 10 November 2011

Ten on the Tenth: Books

Have you heard about World Book Night?  It's a bit of a grand name for something that took place in March of this year and was held only in Britain and Ireland. A million books were given away by 20,000 "givers" - and one "giver" attends my reading group so I received a book first hand. I then spotted that some of my blogging buddies were also "givers" and I received another book by blog giveaway (which was then passed on here).

The second World Book Night will be more worthy of the name as it will include readers in the USA and possibly other countries as well.  It's scheduled for April 23rd 2012 - UNESCO's International Day of the Book and Shakespeare's birthday - Happy Birthday Will!  The U.S. selection has yet to be finalised, but the applications to be a U.K. "giver" and hand out 24 of next year's 500,000 books are being taken now.  I've applied.  It got me thinking about which books I'd recommend:

My all time favourite book has to be "The Time Traveller's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger.  I'm hoping that it might be "my" book if I'm selected as a "giver".  It is intricate and interesting and funny and incredibly sad.  It follows Henry and Clare as they meet, fall in love, marry and try for a family ... complicated by the fact that Henry has a genetic disorder that sends him back and forth within his own time-line so that sometimes he's old in the time of his youth and at others he experiences events in his future.  It's a book that makes you think between chapters!

My second choice from the World Book Night list for 2012 is "Room" by Emma Donoghue.  This is an amazing book, inspired by real events, and narrated by a small boy, Jack, who has never known anywhere except one 11 foot square Room.  He sleeps in Wardrobe, eats at Table and has only Ma for company.  Heartbreaking, inspiring, deeply affecting!









I had to pick a third choice book in my application but haven't actually read it (yet) so can't personally recommend it LOL! However here are a few of my other personal favourites (in no particular order) from the World Book Night Long List:

"The Handmaid's Tale"
by Margaret Atwood
"We Need To Talk About Kevin"
by Lionel Shriver
"Cloud Atlas"
by David Mitchell

"One Day"
by David Nicholls
"To Kill A Mockingbird"
by Harper Lee
"Never Let Me Go"
by Kazuo Ishiguro


"The Kite Runner"
by Khaled Hosseini
"The Curious Incident
of the Dog in the Night-time
"
by Mark Haddon
Looking at my selection there isn't a great deal of comedy here although I do enjoy funny books too - perhaps that's a topic for another day?
Are you applying to be a World Book Night "giver"?  Do you like similar books to me?

For more Ten on the Tenth bloggers please pop over to Shimelle's blog here.

24 comments:

scrappysue said...

Really interesting to read about World Book night Jemma and to learn about your fav books! I'm a total lightweight when it comes to reading, but I'm tempted to read The Time Travellers Wife, its really intrigued me!

Lynn said...

Interesting list - have not read your first two but have put on my to read list now (which is very long!) Great news that world book night will be more worldwide this time.

Carmen said...

Oh my word, I CRIED proper tears at the end of Time Travellers wife. It's one of my favourites too. I've put off watching the film simply because I love the book so much.

Kirsteen said...

Great list Jemma, adding some to me 'to-read' list as we speak :) I'm very excited abotu World Book Night too but didn't know you could appear to be a 'giver'. Good luck with your application xx

Anonymous said...

I too loved, loved The Time Traveller's Wife - though I don't read anywhere as much as I used to

Connie Mercer said...

I have never heard of this~so interesting and what a great thing to do. Some of those books look like an excellent read!!!!

Sandie said...

I'm really enjoying 10 on the 10th this month. Some great posts and I love yours as I am thoughtful about books right now. I have just joined BookCrossing, where you release books for others to find and read. In fact I have just read a book I enjoyed so much that I bought a second copy to release.
I was also the receiver of a book from World Book Night. And I agree with some of the titles you listed. The Time Travellers Wife is so unusual, and so touching.
Hoping to post my own 10 on the 10th later today.

Sian said...

Of course I was going to love a post about book choices :) Curious Incident is one of my all-time favourites I think

Clair said...

The Time Traveller's Wife would have been my choice from the list of books available for World Book Night this year. I love the story so much, because although it's got that fascinating edge, it's essentially a beautifully written love story.

I hope you have chance to give some copies away and then we can convert a few more people x

Ladkyis said...

I was a giver this year and I have applied for next year. As a bookcrosser - see www.bookcrossing.com - I love the idea of trying to make the world a library one book at a time.

Susanne said...

That's a pretty inTENse list.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Thanks for the list - I"m always looking for new books. Loved Handmaid's Tale; someone else also recommended "Talk About Kevin", and I think I'll pick that up soon. I just finished The White Tiger, which was really good. I think I"ll read March next.
Rinda

Charis said...

Ohhh I've read four of these & loved them so perhaps we have similar tastes... I'll try the others too now :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this list! I'm making my christmas wish list and currently looking for some good books to add!

Jennifer Grace said...

I love the list. I adore reading, I studied English at University, but I really struggle to find adult books that I like. I don't like too much sadness in my stories, and adult books always seem to be full of sadness. I feel it too much and it makes me depressed. I did read Time Travellers Wife but it made me very sad at times. I liked the complications and found it interesting though.

I always end up reading Children's novels, especially fantasy ones. Because even if they have sad stuff in they're mostly upbeat and always have a happy ending! x

Becky said...

An interesting list. I hadn't heard of World Book Night, but am off to have a read about it now :)

Beverly said...

Great TEN and I am excited to see the US is participating in 2012. At least some of the 2011 books made it here via Pass the Book. I am drawing the name for the person to pass One Day onto tonight :)

ComfyMom~Stacey said...

I can't wait to see what they have for the US. I am applying to be a giver when they let us

Alison said...

I loved Time Traveller's Wife and One Day!
Alison xx

MiliPea Designs said...

Always great to see others' choices on books! I'll have to check these out. I'm in between books right now so its the perfect time to start looking!

Cheryl McCain said...

I always enjoy seeing what others read and there's several there that intrigue me.
http://scrapyourlife.net

Cate Brickell said...

Oh, I didn't realise "room" was based on a true story! We have very similar reading tastes, many of my favourites are on your list!

Melissa said...

What a great book list. I also enjoyed The Time Travelers Wife. My book club is reading Room in a few months, too, and I'm looking forward to it as I've read several good reviews about it. Being from the south (US), To Kill A Mockingbird has always been a favorite. The Dallas Theatre District is putting on a stage production right now and we are hoping to attend a performance next week.

Unknown said...

Love that list. TTTW is an awesome tale.