The Books of World Book Night USA

Here's the list of the 30 books of World Book Night USA on April 23, 2012:

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

Little Bee by Chris Cleave

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Blood Work by Michael Connelly

The Brief Wondrous World of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

The Stand by Stephen King

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The History of Love by Nichole Krauss

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Just Kids by Patti Smith

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I've only read 9 of these books and am determined to go through the whole list. 

After all, their selection means that the organizers believe that each of these books will awaken a love of reading.  : ) 

Which of these books have you read?  Which do you want to share?  It's not too late! You can still apply to participate and give away 20 books on World Book Night. Head over to the World Book Night website and sign up now!  Deadline to sign up is on Feb 6, 2012.

World Book Night USA & a love of stories

This April 23, we're celebrating World Book Night in the US for the very first time. You might ask, What is World Book Night? 

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.

What a way to celebrate - April 23 is the UNESCO International Day of the Book, chosen in honor of Shakespeare and Cervantes who both died on April 23 1616 (and it was also Shakespeare's birthday). 

The organizers of World Book Night ask "Do you love a book so much you want everyone to read it?"

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories (Volume 1) by HitRECORD & Joseph Gordon-Levitt

"The universe is not made up of atoms; it's made of tiny stories."           - The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories (Volume 1) 

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories (Vol. 1) by HitRecord and Joseph Gordon-Levitt was selected as an Amazon Best Book of December 2011.  It's a gem of tiny (as opposed to short) stories.

The stories are so tiny that they take up a page or two at the most.  While these stories are more like poems, puns, riddles, and sophisticated cartoons (think New Yorker), I found the selections brilliant.  A mix of whimsy, humor, wryness, and quirky (in the best possible way), The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories is the sort of book that starts conversations.  For instance, I'd love to compare notes with others, see which were their favorite stories.   I started out listing the ones that I wanted to share with friends: the one about the doctor's wife, the magician's rabbit, the story of the egg and the orange, the periodic table, the stuffed guests. . .  But then I realized that I liked so many of them that a full list would likely bore you.  Check it out yourself!

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 1 sort of reminded me of those Nutshell Library books in I'd read when I was much younger. I'd carried my beautifully illustrated and tiny Nutshell Library books everywhere until they were so worn out.  I brought them with me when we moved overseas and to every house we moved to.  In the same way, I know that The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories is a keeper - it's a book that I'm taking with me no matter where I move to.  Sort of like my collection of Shel Silverstein books.

But I don't just like the book.  HitRecord, its collaborative approach and the way that the organization shares the profits of its projects is also unusual and worth supporting.

HitRecord is an "open collaborative production company" with projects that include videos, live shows, music, and books.  The  Tiny Book of Tiny Stories is its first book project with each item chosen by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who in the spirit of open collaboration and sharing,  goes by the handle of "RegularJoe".

• ISBN-10: 0062121669 - Hardcover $14.99
• Publisher: It Books (December 6, 2011), 88 pages.
• Review copy provided by the publisher.