This morning at 10 am I’ll be at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, giving out 28 copies of Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes for World Book Night. I’m planning to go to the Sonning ward, where I was treated for a miscarriage about five and a half years ago, and to Hurley ward, which treats female cancer and gynaecological patients. I’ve tucked one of these notes inside each book:
Happy World Book Night!
I’m giving out this book, RACHEL’S HOLIDAY, because it’s one of my favourites. It’s funny, emotional, sad, romantic, true and ultimately upbeat and I think it’s fantastic.
Feelgood women’s fiction has helped me through some of the most difficult times in my life. It’s let me escape from reality for a little while when I needed to. It’s let me borrow someone else’s happy ending.
I hope you like RACHEL’S HOLIDAY as much as I do. If you don’t think it’s the right book for you, please pass it on to someone else who you think will enjoy it.
I’m giving out 20 more copies on Monday morning, at the Duchess of Kent House hospice.
I know that World Book Night has been controversial in the book world. Booksellers ask why do we want to give away a million books for free when both independent and chain bookshops are floundering. Authors point out that giving away books for free devalues our hard work and skill. Librarians point out that you can get books for free every day, at the library. Readers point out that giving away only a selected set of titles that are already well-known restricts access to some equally wonderful, but less well-known titles, and that genre commercial fiction is very under-represented in the list.
I can see that all these points are valid. However, it’s my experience as a reader that having more books doesn’t actually want me buy or borrow or read fewer books; it makes me read more. One book leads to another. I hope that’s what will happen.
Author Nicola Morgan has proposed an alternative World Book Night: she suggests that people buy a book from a shop, then write their name inside it, along with where they bought it and why. And then give that book out on World Book Night. I’ll be doing that, too.
But this morning, I’m really looking forward to giving one of my favourite books to 28 people who haven’t read it yet, in the hopes that it will brighten up their day.
You’re wonderful. And you’re right. Uplifting books help us through the rough times and I love the phrase you used – borrowing someone else’s happy ending.
Good on you, and well done.
I think it’s great what you’re doing.
Have a lovely day and yes, free books usually, at least for me, lead to me buying up backlists and getting more books – not that I ever need much excuse.
I think it’s a great project. Any event that brings attention to books and book giving, and makes books exciting is a good thing.
Thank you! It was nice to be able to give out the book in the hospital to some of the patients, and also the hard-working staff.
I read Rachel’s holiday after you recommended it in a seminar. I thought it was brilliant. I’ve recommended it to people ever since.
LOL, yes Rod, and you also revealed my hair disaster to the entire seminar! I can forgive you though because you like Rachel’s Holiday.
I think it shows that you’re still human and that you still care. Besides, once a reader likes you, they will continue buying your books. Seeing you do things for charity, shows readers that you still care. So, I think it’s a good idea.
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