World Book Night U.S. is part of an ambitious campaign to encourage reading and giving. A half million free paperbacks will be handed out across America all on one day — April 23, 2014 — by enlisting 25,000 volunteer book lovers to promote reading by personally giving specially printed books to light or non-readers and to those without the means or access to them.

NEW YORK October 24, 2013 –World Book Night U.S. has announced the WBN 2014 U.S. book picks, and will open the online application process on October 24 for those wishing to become volunteer book givers next spring.

World Book Night U.S. is part of an ambitious campaign to encourage reading and giving. A half million free paperbacks will be handed out across America all on one day — April 23, 2014 — by enlisting 25,000 volunteer book lovers to promote reading by personally giving specially printed books to light or non-readers and to those without the means or access to them.

The 35 World Book Night U.S. titles for 2014 were chosen by an independent panel of booksellers and librarians, with input from last year’s givers. Thousands of copies of each World Book Night title will be printed as special, not-for-resale paperbacks. The book announcement was conducted as a video chat event starting at 6:30 PM by Shindig Productions with the books announced by booksellers, librarians, book givers, and other special guests in New York City and via webcam from around the country. Twenty-five hundred book givers from past years responded to watch the event. The event will go up on WBN’s YouTube channel in a week. Shindig also will produce WBN online events in April 2014.

Carl Lennertz, World Book Night U.S. Executive Director, said: “This year’s book selection is the most diverse ever, and we’ve increased the total number of picks this year to 35 in order to welcome in more authors and publishers. We have our first graphic novel, our first university press pick, and the first Asian-American authors. As before, we have a book in English and Spanish, and two of the picks will also be available in Large Print editions. In early 2014, we will announce a proprietary e-book in partnership with e-book technology company Livrada, with original content that all givers can offer to everyone. We are in talks about a digital audio download, as well.”

Scott Turow offered the following: “I can’t imagine any greater compliment to a book — or an author — than to know his work been selected to welcome people to the pleasures of reading.”

Derek Kirk Kim said: “It’s amazing to be the author of the first graphic novel included in this celebration of books and reading.  I never expected the places my book would take me; it’s wonderful that now, over a decade since it was first published, my story is still reaching new readers.”

The third year of World Book Night U.S. will see new initiatives and goals. Lennertz commented: “Year three will see another dramatic increase in media coverage, building on the 137 million impressions we saw in April of this year. To supplement local news coverage, Entertainment Marketing Group is once again providing us with a 150+ market pro bono radio and TV campaign. We will also seek more recipient feedback, introduce a digital aspect for the givers, and expand our social media engagement to a year-round calendar. Lastly, in a very exciting development, almost every WBN-pick author will participate in pre-WBN launch events on April 22, 2014, doubling the number of events from last time.”

World Book Night U.S. also announced United Parcel Services (UPS) as the official shipping sponsor.

Lennertz said: “I am so happy that our friends at UPS are supporting us in the essential work of getting the boxes of books from Ingram to over 2,500 bookstores and libraries, all in a two-day span next April, so that the givers in more than 6,000 towns and cities can be welcomed at pre-WBN receptions.

“We thank all the authors for waiving royalties and the wide range of publishers for agreeing to print the books. We urge all potential book givers to read up on the book picks before submitting their application.”

The online giver application process opens up at 9 AM EST on October 24 for those wishing to become a volunteer book giver next spring, and continues through January 5, 2014. Applicants must state where and to whom they intend to give out their 20 WBN special paperbacks.

Book descriptions, guidelines, and the online application are at www.us.worldbooknight.org

The 35 World Book Night U.S. titles for 2014, alphabetical by author, are:

• The Zookeeper’s Wife, Diane Ackerman (W.W. Norton)
• Kitchen Confidential, Anthony Bourdain (Ecco)
• The Weird Sisters, Eleanor Brown (Berkley)
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky (Simon & Schuster)
• After the Funeral, Agatha Christie (William Morrow Paperbacks)
• The Ruins of Gorlan: Ranger’s Apprentice Book 1, John Flanagan (Puffin Books)
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Jamie Ford (Ballantine Books)
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet in Large Print (Thorndike/Gale; Cengage Learning)
• The Lighthouse Road, Peter Geye (Unbridled Books)
• The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (Back Bay Books)
• Wait Till Next Year, Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster)
• Catch-22, Joseph Heller (Simon & Schuster)
• The Dog Stars, Peter Heller (Vintage)
• Hoot, Carl Hiaasen (Knopf)
• Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor (Penguin Books)
• Same Difference, Derek Kirk Kim (First Second Books)
• Enchanted, Alethea Kontis (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Miss Darcy Falls in Love, Sharon Lathan (Sourcebooks)
• Bobcat and Other Stories, Rebecca Lee (Algonquin Books)
• Young Men and Fire, Norman Maclean (University of Chicago Press)
• Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin (HarperPerennial)
• Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (New American Library)
• Sunrise Over Fallujah, Walter Dean Myers (Scholastic)
• Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson (HarperTrophy)
• The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan (Random House)
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs (Quirk Books)
• When I Was Puerto Rican, Esmeralda Santiago (Da Capo)
• Cuando Era Puertorriqueña, Esmeralda Santiago (Vintage Español)
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple (Back Bay Books)
• Where’d You Go, Bernadette in Large Print (Thorndike/Gale; Cengage Learning)
• Wild, Cheryl Strayed (Vintage)
• Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (Grand Central Publishing)
• Code Name Verity, Elizabeth Wein (Disney Hyperion)
• This Boy’s Life, Tobias Wolff (Grove Atlantic)
• 100 Best-Loved Poems, edited by Philip Smith (Dover)