world book night 2014

My mom and I have been waiting all year to give out books on World Book Night again, and we can’t believe it’s over already. Free books go very quickly!

Because, last year, our 20 copies of Tina Fey’s Bossypants were gone in 15 minutes, we decided to get smart this year and sign up separately so we’d have double the number of books to give out.

Of course, this made our book selection twice as hard. Wild  by Cheryl Strayed was a given because we both loved it so much and have discussed it endlessly with everyone we know. But which would be our second one? Where’d You Go, Bernadette is one of my all-time favorites and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is one of my mom’s, but we weren’t sure if those were the best choices for the students at Mira Costa College.

After going through the World Book Night list and debating the pros and cons of all the books we had read (now, that would have made a must-see video), we chose The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. It’s a great novel about three sisters whose father is a professor of Shakespeare, and who believe “there is no problem a library card can’t solve.” That seemed like a perfect message to send out.

Proudly donning our “I Am A Book Giver” stickers, we headed over to Mira Costa, where our friend, Associate Dean Nikki Schaper, welcomed us back and shared baby pictures with us. What?! She hadn’t even been pregnant last year!

We arranged our table and waited. Although  lot of students walked by, one after another, they turned down the books we offered. In fact, they wouldn’t even come over to take a look. We couldn’t understand what was happening until a young man asked for a copy of Wild and laughingly asked if he had to convert now. It turns out we were sitting in the spot where a religious group usually offers their book (you know, the one that starts with a capital B and is the all-time best seller).

They were now seated at a table across the path from us, and apparently people were wary that we were related.

That was about to change.

My mom, the woman who taught me the meaning of the word “do,” got out of her chair, held up both books and started calling out, “Who wants a free book for World Book Night? We have fiction and non-fiction.”

Well, that started the action. Students and faculty members began wandering over, and we got into some really interesting discussions with people who had heard of one or the other and were surprised, excited and grateful to get a free copy. We explained that 29,000 volunteers were giving out more than half a million books all around the world, and we were totally warmed by every sincere “thank you.” We even got a couple of hugs. My mother has that effect on people.

The books were gone in a half hour.

We can’t wait to do this again next year, and hope to hear tales from the many – yes, many! – people who told us they want to hike the Pacific Coast Trail just like Cheryl Strayed. And that’s the beauty of World Book Night – to share stories and show the powerful influence a book can have on a reader.

That particular book inspired me to read everything Cheryl Strayed has ever written, interview her and realize I, too, can do anything. It inspired my mother to remind me to take care of my feet. If it inspires some of these readers to actually follow in Cheryl’s footprints and take their own life-changing journey, well, that would be wild.