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World Book Day was started by UNESCO and is recognized by over 100 countries worldwide. It was originally started by Catalonia to recognize publishing, reading, and copyright. It later came to coincide with St. George’s Day (April 23rd) because historically the men gave roses to their loved one and the women gave books in return.

Most countries will celebrate World Book Day on April 23rd, however the UK and Ireland celebrate in March (today!!) so that it coincides with term time for school children and they can make the most of the opportunity. Many publishers and booksellers take part and hold events to celebrate reading among the population. Visit the WorldBookDay.com to learn more.

It’s a shame I didn’t know about this celebration more while I was still in school otherwise I would have organized an event for my high school. I did a lot of events to raise awareness for events such as National Non-Smoking week, Breast Cancer Month, etc.; I called it “Awareness Weeks” and would do a presentation at School Meeting each week.

Anyway, for my personal celebration — here is my current To Be Read Shortlist! I refer to this as my TBR Shortlist because it does not include my “classics” list and the “100 Best English-Language Novels of the 20th Century” list.

  • Confessor (Sword of Truth Series) by Terry Goodkind
  • The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
  • The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Fowler
  • The Interpretation of Murder by Jed Rubenfeld
  • The Shakespeare Secret by J.L. Carrell
  • The Nostradamus Prophecy by Theresa Breslin
  • Runemarks by Joanne Harris
  • Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan
  • Blind Submission: A Novel by Debra Ginsberg
  • The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
  • Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
  • A Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  • The Murder Room by P.D. James
  • She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
  • Watership Down by Richard Adams
  • The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans
  • Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
  • New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
  • Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  • On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
  • Atonement by Ian McEwan
  • Crank by Ellen Hopkins
  • Burned by Ellen Hopkins
  • The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
  • The Rose of Sebastopol by Katharine McMahon
  • Notes from an Exhibition by Patrick Gale
  • Random Acts of Heroic Love by Danny Scheinmann
  • Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Novel) by Robert L. Mack
  • A Great and Terrible Beauty (The Gemma Doyle Series) by Libba Bray
  • Rebel Angels (The Gemma Doyle Series) by Libba Bray
  • The Sweet Far Thing (The Gemma Doyle Series) by Libba Bray
  • The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
  • Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

The sad thing is, it grows every time I go to Waterstone’s here in the UK or Amazon on the computer…. *sigh*