Happy World Book Night
Today is all about celebrating books and reading
Happy World Book Night – Today is a day for celebrating reading and books. What day isn’t? I hear you ask. Well, today is special as it’s a named and nominated day. It’s also Shakespeare’s Birthday and he’s given us some of the most well-known and popular books in English history.
World Book Night
So what should you do today? Bookworms will answer that as they would any day and suggest you read. There is a dedicated reading hour tonight at 7pm UK time. A good time to do a Zoom reading session or have a bookclub meeting online. The important thing is to sit and read, pick a book to start, one you would like to finish….just spend time with the company of really good book.
The Stripey Badger Bookshop (c) TheBookTrail
Share how you’re spending the hour on social media using #ReadingHour. Happy World Book Night!
It’s obvious I love books and reading. I love encouraging people to read as it’s so enjoyable and so important. Many people struggle with their English skills – I’ve worked as a teacher helping children, young adults and adults themselves to not feel the pressure of picking up a book. You don’t have to read Shakespeare or a classic. What about reading a murder mystery? A magical adventure like Harry Potter? Don’t be bothered with what you think you should be reading or what everyone else has read. The world would be a boring place if we all read the same.
Tynedale Bookshop, Hexham (c) The BookTrail
Travel via Books
I am so passionate about reading. It’s the best way to switch off from the world. I love to travel via books and take them with me to places I go. They’re a comfort, a joy, something that I know that’s always there. I needed speech therapy as a small child – what gave me the confidence and the skills to speak, read and write? BOOKS. Jeremy James, The Magic Faraway Tree, Around the World in 80 Days…. I’m sure I could still recite them word for word. The travelling around the world in 80 Days captured my imagination and is why The BookTrail is here today.
A magical bookshop in Sodermalm, Stockholm (c) The BookTrail
Language
They gave me the confidence to enjoy language, and they sparked my wonderment for words. I now have five languages I can read and translate and of course, even more books I can discover. I’ve made tons of new friends and continue to do so. This lockdown is hard but many days I am on line with bookish people sharing the love and joy of reading. Never let it be said that books are not useful, not powerful and not necessary.
There are no guilty pleasures with books. Snobbery has no place in the book world. Love Shakespeare? Crime fiction? Historical drama? Romance? Read it. The books that win awards? Read them too. Ignore everyone and wander into a bookshop and pick up a book just because you like the sound of it or you like the cover.
Books are everything.
Susan BookTrailer
The Happiest of World Book Nights to you all.
