World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading.
It might have slipped past you but today is World Book Day. So I thought it would fun to do a quick survey on Twitter so I asked more or less:
I wanna know one book that everyone should read? I mine is Dracula @vintagebooks
And here are some of the great suggestions so far – some of them cheated and chose two!
- Liz_Sara @nextread One book everyone should read – that’s hard! Either Wuthering Heights if we’re talking classics or The Historian if not
- Figures @nextread Lord of the Rings. Obvious I know, but still the greatest book ever written!
- Figures @nextread If I was allowed a 2nd, I’d say Weaveworld – the book that made me say “You can do that with Fantasy?”
- scottvharrison @nextread A Christmas Carol. Everyone’s seen an adaptation but none have matched the sheer warmth, darkness and power of the book!
- BookChickCity Dracula is my fav book, but as you’ve chosen it, I would say In Cold Blood by Truman Capote RT @nextread for @worldbookdayuk mine is Dracula
- BookChickCity Can I be special & have two?
Other book I’d choose is Why Do Caged Birds Sing by Maya Angelou RT @nextreadfor @worldbookdayuk - SamSykesSwears @nextread Shogun by James Clavell.
- ALRutter @nextread Mine is Watership Down by Richard Adams, to see an example of how stories work on multiple levels
- Locksley_uk @nextread Small Gods, Terry Pratchett.
- ghostfinder @nextread One book for everyone to read? Tricky. I shall go left-field and suggest The Princess Bride.
- Rezze @nextread The Solitaire Mystery, by Jostein Gaardner.
- SaqiBooks @worldbookdayuk @nextread A Thousand Splendid Suns. Made me cry… in public. Incredible and I much preferred to The Kite Runner
- BookZone @nextread My choice is the ultimate caper/heist story and first in a great series – Modesty Blaise by Peter O’Donnell
- crimeficreader @nextread But best read so far this yr for me is Amanda Craig’s Hearts & MInds. Real life in the belly of London.
- Gergaroth @nextread Pet Sematary
- booksmugglers @nextread One book everyone should read: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- Gollancz @nextread One book everyone should read? Outside of Gollancz? The Periodic Table by Primo Levi
- woodge @nextread Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
- artsderbyshire @nextread 1 book everyone should read – Primo Levi, If this is a man. U didn’t ought 2be allowed 2rest yr bones in the ground til you have.
- KieraG23 @nextread Black Swan Green, David Mitchell #worldbookday
- stujallen @nextread rings of saturn w g sebald his wonderful lyrical novel
- MihaiDarkWolf @nextread I subscribe to The Shadow of the Wind, but I’ll add another: Michael Ende’s “The Neverending Story“.
- AtomBooks @nextread: Pride and Prejudice, of course! Feisty heroines are the cornerstone of Western literature – and of our list!!
- MEStaton @nextread Perfume (Suskind) or I, Claudius (Graves) at the top of the list
- MunchKim @nextread Everyone should read all 7 Chronicles of Narnia books, I still love re-reading them now!
- stuartamdouglas @nextread Pride and Prejudice. No contest.
- jrobertking @nextread Everyone should read “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon. Insightful and compelling.
- MarnieBelle @nextread around the world in 80 days must read
- Kamvision @nextread The Iliad - Homer
- AltMagOnline @nextread I think everyone should read Bad Omens! Such a brilliant book.
So readers, after seeing the list, any that have been missed? What is your one book? And what do you think of the choices so far?
I'd say that the one book I'd recommend that everybody read would be Lois Lowry's “The Giver.” It's not a long book, and is intended for a younger audience, but if an amazing commentary of society and perception, and I get something new out of it each time I reread it. It's the kind of book that means so much more than what it says, and it makes a person think.
Ha my number one choice is Weaveworld, incredible, mind blowing and reminds us all how important our own minds are, but that's gone, so number two would have been Good Omens which is a great reminder to take life less seriously.
I think I saw that one too so that leaves a book that I don't love, but that has stayed with me and always been a reminder about why stories really matter. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Count of Monte Cristo. I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet.
A book everyone should read: I would have suggested Lord OfTheRings or Dracula, but both already taken. So instead I would go for Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451… burning books symbolises the death of ideas, imagination and creativity. A very suitable book for World Book Day.
I've got two: James Clavell's “Tai-Pan” and Tom Wolfe's “I Am Charlotte Simmons”. There are plenty others, but these are really very long, so you can really sink into them. That and Anne Rice's “Vampire Lestat” and “Queen of the Damned”, which belong as one choice because they should always be read together.
I'd go with Susan Cooper's The Grey King – actually the whole Dark is Rising series – but The Grey King remains with me to this day. The blend of myth and reality, of fantasy in the real world and of legends stepping across time and reality was just mindblowing.
Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
[...] Gav over at Next Read has bravely decided to start a new online magazine for speculative fiction, so, for all those who were dismayed at the fact that MCN’s project above is closed to entries, get scribbling and write something for Gav! All the details for submission can be found here – the first issue is inviting work with the theme Science Fiction combined with Myth. What are you waiting for?! As an aside, Gav also celebrated World Book Day by inviting readers of his blog to give the one book they feel everyone should read – the results are illuminating. [...]