World Book Night U.S. announced its 2014 book picks on October 23, during a video chat event conducted at the Association of American Publishers offices in New York City. A half a million free paperbacks of the 35 selected titles will be handed out on one day, April 23, 2014, as a part of the organization's third-annual campaign to promote giving and reading.
Twenty-five hundred participants from years past tuned into the event, hosted by Shindig, for the reveal of the list of books, up from last year's 30, chosen by an independent panel of booksellers and librarians.
“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," said Carl Lennertz, WBN U.S. executive director. "We have our first graphic novel, our first university press pick, and the first Asian-American authors," adding that as before, the WBN has a book in English and Spanish, and two of the picks will also be available in Large Print editions. Lennertz also said that in early 2014, the organization will announce a proprietary e-book in partnership with e-book technology company Livrada.
WBN U.S. also named United Parcel Services as its official shipping sponsor, and confirmed that Entertainment Marketing Group is once again providing WBN with a pro boon radio and T.V. campaign.
To apply to become a volunteer book giver next spring, visit the online application here.
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, Philip Smith, ed. (Dover)
