World Book Night - an army marches forward!

Look at someone's bookshelf and it it will tell you a lot about the person, what they like, dislike and occasionally what they would like to have more time to explore. The titles, genres and the authors give away so much of what we put inside our hearts and minds.

Books are precious, they absorb time; to plot, to write, to re-write, and work out the subtle twists and turns. The minutiae of structure ,plot and sub-plot that must hang together like the threads of a tapestry. Later when they reach out to the reader, the individual for whom all books are written, there is more time spent on deciding, is the cover enticing enough, does the first page grab you and drag you through the portal into a world you don't want to escape and your feet drift inexorably towards the bookseller and the cash till to make the purchase.

Next Tuesday World Book Night night books will be moving by the case, box upon box, stacked and packed with crisp fresh pages and newly printed ink. Thousands of people will savour that moment when you open the covers for the first time and the smell of the book reaches your nostrils. A perfume, and a promise, the scent of imagination and an invitation to intrigue, adventure and romance, brought by an army of volunteers

Will you have a date with the Girl with a Pearl Earring, play the high stakes at Casino Royale, be entertained by The Reader, or be summoned to an audience with The White Queen.

Are you to be investigated by the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency, or will the encroaching night bring the sober news that Last Night, Another Soldier...

A selection of some of the books available on World Book Night,
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracey Chevalier
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming
The Reader by Bernard Schlink
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Last Night, Another Soldier by Andy McNab,

See what's available here and what's happening near you on the events page

Whichever one is given to you on World Book Night, I hope you enjoy it, savour it and add your time to that spent writing, producing and delivering it.