Last year, I told you about World Book Night, in which people gave away free books to promote reading and bookstores all across Great Britain. I ended the post by asking, "Why don't we make World Book Night an actual global event next year?"

Good news: The first American World Book Night is scheduled for April 23rd. Participants will get 20 copies from a long list of very good general-interest books to hand out to light or non-readers. (One of the books is The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, by Stranger Genius Sherman Alexie.) You can register to be a giver-away of free books right here.

I think this is a great idea, along the lines of Free Comic Book Day, which has been a huge success for many comic book stores around the country. Some of these books are guaranteed to get the attention of people who haven't read a book in years—A Prayer for Owen Meany, The Stand, Kindred, The Namesake. If you can think of a good way to get these books into people's hands, you should register today.