Written Words to Celebrate World Book Night

If somebody walks up to and hands you a book on Monday, don't be scared. April 23 is World Book Night.

The book and literacy celebration will be held that day for the first time in the United States, and Shelton's own makes the city one of 6,000 in the nation to join this ambitious campaign.

"[World Book Night] was started last year in the U.K., and it was so successful that it's being celebrated here this year, and in Ireland as well," said Written Words owner Dorothy Sim-Broder.

Sim-Broder explained that the entire book industry--from publishers to printers--is putting their resources together to produce a half million specially printed paperbacks to be handed out across America, at no cost to anyone but themselves.

"Everything is donated for this one night. The goal is to spread the joy of reading to everyone, specifically to people who may not be readers already," she said.

Thirty books, chosen by a panel of booksellers and librarians through several rounds of voting, will be printed and handed out for free by volunteers (Sim-Broder calls them "givers") in the community.

"They give you a list of titles to choose from and the goal is to pick one you're passionate about and spread that message," she said of a giver's task that day.

Written Words Bookstore's intimate gathering this Friday night will be a place where givers can share their reading experiences with fellow World Book Night participants.

"A woman from Shelton intentionally chose a title that has to do with the military and her plan was to go to a veterans' hospital to hand out the free copies," Sim-Broder said.

students should be on guard as well. Sim-Broder said she is working with teachers and librarians to identify teens "who have never liked to read, so that maybe this can spark an interest."

The 30 World Book Night U.S. titles for 2012, alphabetical by author, are:

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
2. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak)
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Ballantine)
4. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger (Da Capo)
5. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler (Beacon Press)
6. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (Tor)
7. Little Bee by Chris Cleave (Simon & Schuster)
8. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
9. Blood Work by Michael Connelly (Grand Central)
10. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz (Riverhead); a Spanish-language edition, La breve y maravillosa vida de Óscar Wao (Vintage Espanol), will also be made available.
11. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Candlewick)
12. Zeitoun by Dave Eggers (Vintage)
13. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (Grove Atlantic)
14. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (Algonquin)
15. Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton (Berkley)
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead)
17. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (Ballantine)
18. The Stand by Stephen King (Anchor)
19. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (Perennial)
20. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss (W.W. Norton)
21. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri  (Mariner)
22. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (Mariner)
23. Bel Canto by Ann Patchett  (Perennial)
24. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult (Atria)
25. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (Picador)
26. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (Back Bay)
27. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (Broadway)
28. Just Kids by Patti Smith (Ecco)
29. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner)
30. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Knopf Books for Young Readers)