World Book Night happens every year, but for 2020, it will have its most captive audience yet. The idea for this year’s World Book Night is to connect a nation in lockdown by encouraging everyone to take part in The Reading Hour (7-8pm on the day), as well as broadcasting live readings throughout the day. WBN normally involves a mass giveaway of 50,000 books to prisons, hospitals, youth centres, care homes and mental health groups. This is now scheduled to happen later in the year, but there are plans for free audiobook giveaways.
To apply to receive a free audiobook, submit your entry here by midnight April 22. The recipients will be chosen at random and sent a single-use download code on April 23. You might just snag a copy of ‘North and South’ by Elizabeth Gaskell or ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams.
Have a look at what writers Margaret Atwood, Bernardine Evaristo, Adam Kay, and Matt Haig have recommended for isolation reading here.