World Book Night 2013

In the dead of winter, when everything in middle Tennessee is brown and gray, there is one particular event that gets me ready for spring: the applications for World Book Night arrive.  I check my e-mail, and there it is! The list of World Book Night (WBN) titles are announced, and people around the country can apply to be a WBN giver... to receive the honor of handing out FREE copies of a book in your community on April 23rd.


Team Palmer on World Book Night 2013

I was lucky enough to be picked again this year, and let me tell you, as a passionate reader, few events compare to this night.  I got to give out a book by one of my favorite authors: John Green's Looking for Alaska.  With my entourage (both girls came along for support and photography skills) we headed to our local coffee house, JoZoara's, to offer free books to the community. We met up with other WBN givers and members of the local One Book Committee.

As you can see, I am just beaming -  what a great night! At the end of the night, around the country, more than 25,000 people had given away free books in their community. To learn more about World Book Night or to be a giver next year, check out their website at http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/.





Isabelle sharing the love of reading



With my dear friend Sandee - her first night as a WBN Giver

Fellow book givers Shawna (left) and Sandee (right),
along with One Book Co-Chair Laura Beth.
What a fun evening!

The Fabulous Kate Atkinson

Scrolling through Amazon's Kindle deals a couple of weeks ago, the very first item that popped up was Kate Atkinson's novel, Started Early, Took My Dog.  I actually sighed out loud... one of my favorite mysteries, at only $1.99!  I remember fondly when I first picked up Case Histories, Atkinson's fifth book but her first crime novel, with its twists and turns, the intricate interweaving of subplots and characters, and a new favorite detective, the truculent detective Jackson Brodie. She quickly followed with several other Brodie mysteries, including Started Early, each one as delicious as the one before.

Atkinson has a new novel that I can't wait to get my hands on... Life After Life, in which Ursula Todd, born on a cold night in 1910, dies and then is born again - and again, and again, each time with a chance to rewrite history.  As England makes its way toward World  War II, Ursula can change the future of the world... if only she gets the chance.

Happy reading!