During the past two months, over 6000 book lovers have submitted their top ten favourite reads for consideration as part of the World Book Night Top 100. Over 8000 different titles have been nominated in total, illustrating the diversity of the nation’s reading tastes and with a constantly evolving top hundred as more and more readers contributed, have provided a fascinating snapshot of the UK’s best loved reads.
The results of the ballot have been collated and World Book Night can today reveal the Top 100 titles which will be used to inform the choice of the editorial selection committee, chaired by bestselling novelist Tracy Chevalier.
The number one position with 676 votes goes to Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Enduring classics such as Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings also feature high in the list along with more contemporary favourites such as The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and American Gods by Neil Gaiman accumulating a large number of votes. The official World Book Night Top 100 can be viewed in full at www.worldbooknight.org/your-books/the-wbn-top-100-books
Julia Kingsford, CEO, World Book Night says:
’It’s wonderful to see the passionate choices of so many people and, above all, the diversity of those choices. We had always expected there to be a wide range of books nominated but to have so many titles chosen is a great reminder of the power and passion of individual readers. And though many ‘old favourites’ from previous top 100s are present it’s a really fresh, dynamic and fascinating snapshot of the books people love with some genuine surprises.’
The final list of 25 titles for World Book Night 2012 will be announced on Wednesday 12th October at the Frankfurt Book Fair and will coincide with the opening of the giver application process.
The World Book Night 2012 titles are being chosen by an editorial committee chaired by Tracy Chevalier and including bestselling author Dorothy Koomson, commentator, twitterer and author Grace Dent, literary editors Claire Armitstead and Jane Mays and booksellers and librarians as well as two members of the public chosen from last year’s givers.
World Book Night will take place on the 23rd April 2012.
