Initiative to encourage reading

Shaparak Khorsandi has been announced as one of the ambassadors for World Book Night.

The initiative aims to get as many people as possible to spend the hour between 7pm and 8pm on Sunday April 23.

As part of the event, The Reading Agency will be giving more than 68,000 books to organisations across the country to give to people who don't regularly read for pleasure or with limited access to books, including hospitals and prisons.

Khorsandi said: ‘I'm so excited to be joining the wonderful crew of ambassadors for such an important campaign, celebrating reading, books, readers, and how amazing all of the above are.

The other ambassadors will be Nadiya Hussain, Katie Piper, Fearne Cotton and Louise Pentland.

‘During Reading Hour, everyone should be grabbing a good book and set some time aside to read, and from the reading list, I've got my eyes on Ayaan Mohamud’s You Think You Know Me’

The Reading Agency has also issued a book list of suggested titles people might want to try:

World Book Night 2023 Titles

Aftershocks by Anne Fine (Old Barn Books)
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano (Penguin)
Feel Good Food by Joe Wicks (HQ, HarperCollins)
Game Over: Rise of the Raid Mob by M.J. Sullivan (Clock Tower Publishing, Sweet Cherry Publishing)
Lift Your Vibe by Richie Norton (Penguin)
Making It by Jay Blades (Bluebird, Pan Macmillan)
Maybe I Don’t Belong Here by David Harewood (Bluebird, Pan Macmillan)
Nightingale Point by Luan Goldie (HQ, HarperCollins)
One Body: A Retrospective written and narrated by Catherine Simpson (Saraband)
Passing by Nella Larsen (Penguin Classics)
Pulling Through by Catherine Jessop (Jessica Kingsley Publishers)
Superheroes: Inspiring Stories of Secret Strength by Sophia Thakur and Denzell Dankwah (#MerkyBooks, Cornerstone)
The Natural Health Service: What the Great Outdoors Can Do For Your Mind written and narrated by Isabel Hardman (Bolinda Audio)
The Patient: A DS Cross Thriller by Tim Sullivan (Aries, Head of Zeus)
The Songs You’ve Never Heard by Becky Jerams and Ellie Wyatt (Clock Tower Publishing, Sweet Cherry Publishing)
The Trust by M.H. Eccleston (Aries, Head of Zeus)
The Woman in the White Kimono by Ana Johns, narrated by Laurence Bouvard (Bolinda Audio)
This Book Kills by Ravena Guron (Usborne)
This Monk Wears Heels: Be Who You Are by Kodo Nishimura (Watkins Publishing)
This Way Out by Tufayel Ahmed (Lake Union Publishing, Amazon Publishing)
You Think You Know Me by Ayaan Mohamud (Usborne)

Quick Reads 2023 Titles

Dead Man Talking by Roddy Doyle (Vintage)
Hello Mum by Bernardine Evaristo (Penguin)
One False Move by Dreda Say Mitchell (Hodder & Stoughton)
Paris for One by Jojo Moyes (Penguin)
The Double Clue: And Other Hercule Poirot Stories by Agatha Christie (HarperCollins)
Wish You Were Dead by Peter James (Pan Macmillan)

Published: 14 Mar 2023