BOOKS!
BOOKS AND BOOZE!
FREE BOOKS AND BOOZE!!
In fact, if you take into account that glass of wine @Decknologist gave me, it was actually FREE BOOKS AND FREE BOOZE
What a fantastic night! I know that BOOKELF has posted about the In's and Outs of the event, so I'll try to avoid being too repetitive, but I had to have my own little say.
If this were the Oscars, and not a tiny blog, I'd have a few thank yous to distribute for BOOKELF's recent book swop and World Book Night event.
First up would be the staff at Arcadia Bar - always friendly and very generous with us, they went above and beyond at last weeks do, reamaining cheerful and helpful - regardless of how late the book stragglers arrived!
I can't thank BOOKELF and the other 'Book Givers' enough for giving so generously of their time and effort - certainly a lot of work went into insuring a great night for bookies like me! At the end of the night - and not including the Travelling Suitcase Library book swop that was running concurrently - 8 World Book Night books were distributed from the pub - that's a haul for anyone - out of a total of 25 titles. More than that, the sense of kinship and community that so quickly permeated the room has inspired me. Next year, I'm going to be one of the distributors too! While it was wonderful being on this side of the table, I want to play more of an active role in this social revolution!
Twitter played a little part in our successful night. BOOKELF and others tweeted every step of the way, and several people dropped by - having not heard of the event prior to the night. Indeed, I believe that a few of the book givers arrived unannounced, having seen the tweets, and wanting to join in the fun. I find it amusing that the Internet, and social networking, long associated with 'the end' of reading and the 'hard copy' book, proved so be such a vital tool in raising awareness, and inclusion for a book related social event such as the elf's. 
Anyhoo, onto the pretties!!The titles that were available at Arcadia were:
- Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
- Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
- Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marcia
- One Day by David Nicholls
- Stuart by Alexander Masters
- The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Moshin Hamid
- Toast by Nigel Slater
- Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
The day following the event, I devoured Case Histories. I've never read any of her previous titles but heard very good things. I'm not sure if this book fits with my expectations, but it was addictive reading. I literally read this in one massive sitting - I was buttering bread with the book open in front of me - it's that level of not-put-down. The last book I felt this way about was the final book in The Millenium Trilogy, and before that, the final Harry Potter book.
I wouldn't quite put this title down as being as good as either of the above, but I enjoyed it. One of the characters drove me scatty, and some of the situations were a bit suspect, but honestly, as whodunnits go, this one was great!
As always, feel free to let us know on twitter or in the comments how you are getting on with your World Book Nights reads.
TTFN
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