Do You Read?

Did you notice the title? Yes, I'm asking a genuine question. Do you read?

I'm not talking about any of the sacred holy tomes that you read to figure out how to save yourself from a fiery eternity. I'm not thinking about reading posts on Facebook, tweets on twitter, online urban legends, or breaking blurbs on questionable news sites cooked up to scare you into hating Democrats.

I'm talking about sweet novels, scary sci-fi dramas, or convoluted mysteries that you read just for entertainment, or pleasure, or to pass the time... or for no reason at all.

That's me picking up my books from Emily at  

Booksellers on Fountain Square

World Book Night U. S. 2014

Wow! I lost my train of thought, so I'll get to the point. April 23, 2014 (William Shakespeare's birthday) is World Book Night U.S. Over 25,000 volunteer Book Givers (like me) will be "Spreading the love of reading, person to person."

In a single day, we'll give away half a million books in 6,000 cities across the country. And that's just in America. The World Book Night idea of giving away books to encourage reading originated in the U.K.
They'll be passing out books there too.

If you are a light to non-reader, there's a slim possibility that a local volunteer will walk up to, ask you how often you read, and offer you a free book from the WBN 2014 book list.

I'm giving away copies of
 "Waiting to Exhale" 

Why only a slim possibility?

There are 25,000 Book Givers across the USA, but only 15 in Cincinnati. Each volunteer received a box of 20 books chosen from a list of 30 specially printed World Book Night 2014 editions by 30 different authors.

When we applied to be Book Givers, we had to tell them what book we wanted, who we planned to give them to, and why we wanted to give away books in the first place.

I chose "Waiting to Exhale" by Terry McMillan. I plan to give them away at Sarah Center, a women's ministry in Over The Rhine. I wanted to participate as a Giver because I love reading and wanted to share my passion with others. I'd like to give a book to every person I meet on the street that day, but I just can't.

Be a Book Giver in 2015

It's too late to be World Book Night 2014 volunteer, but the application process will start all over again this fall. Just visit us.worldbooknight.org and add your email address to the World Book Night 2015 newsletter distribution list. They will notify you when the application process opens up again.