World Book Night 2019 selection revealed

The book list for World Book Night 2019 has been revealed, with publishers including Penguin Random House, Canongate and Jessica Kingsley Publishers donating various titles. The annual book giveaway takes place on 23rd April, Shakespeare's birthday. 

Titles on the 2019 list include The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Rio Ferdinand’s memoir Thinking Out Loud and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas [full list below].

Charity The Reading Agency (TRA) will team up with public libraries, prisons, colleges, care homes, youth centres, mental health groups, charities and other organisations to get books into the hands of new readers. Organisations can apply to take part from today via worldbooknight.org.

TRA chief executive Sue Wilkinson said: “Our research shows that reading has the power to tackle life’s big challenges: it can build social mobility, combat loneliness and support our mental health and wellbeing. We are delighted to include a great range of books on our 2019 World Book Night list, which we hope will inform and inspire readers of all ages, and encourage discussion about these important issues.”

“Our aim with World Book Night has always been to reach new readers and we are delighted to be working with public libraries, prisons, colleges and many other partners - all of whom do a terrific job of getting the books into the hands of people who don’t already read.”

After World Book Night 2018, results from a follow-up survey saw 97% of participating organisations rate their experience of taking part as excellent or good and 95% thought the books donated by publishers in 2018 helped encourage people to read more often. 

The complete list of titles donated by publishers for World Book Night 2019 are:

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Macmillan Children’s)
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (Vintage)
The Forgiveness Project by Marina Cantacuzino (Jessica Kingsley Publishers)
Rosie Loves Jack by Mel Darbon (Usborne)
Shadows in Heaven by Nadine Dorries (Head of Zeus)
Me Mam. Me Dad. Me. by Malcolm Duffy (Head of Zeus)
Thinking Out Loud by Rio Ferdinand (Hodder & Stoughton)
Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon (Headline)
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green (Penguin Random House Children’s)
The Chalk Pit by Elly Griffiths (Quercus)
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (Penguin General)
Himself by Jess Kidd (Canongate)
Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen (Usborne)
The Ice Cream Girls by Dorothy Koomson (Headline)
The Children by Ann Leary (Corvus)
Close Enough to Touch by Colleen Oakley (Allen & Unwin)
Die Last by Tony Parsons (Cornerstone)
The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley (Pan Macmillan)
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (Michael Joseph)
The Things We Thought We Knew by Mahsuda Snaith (Transworld)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Walker)
Artemis by Andy Weir (Ebury)
The War of the Worlds by H G Wells (Penguin Press)