Bookselling: World Book Night; Curious George Reopens in Harvard Square; and More

PublishersLunch

World Book Night will take place Monday in the UK, US, Germany and Ireland, with thousands of volunteers set to give away more than a million books in those countries (in the US, approximately 500,000 books from a list of 20 titles will be given away in more than 5,800 communities.) USA Today has a long overview of what's planned all day in the US (including a celebratory "closing ceremonies" party at the Union Square Barnes & Noble), while WBN will host a similar event at London's South Bank Centre. "We always hoped that World Book Night would become a global initiative that truly lived up to its name," Canongate publisher and WBN founder Jamie Byng told the Bookseller. "We have been overwhelmed by the support from our international partners; the number of givers signed up and the sheer volume of books being given away across the Germany, the USA, the UK and Ireland is truly astounding and the prospect of so many great books being read and shared all over the world on April 23 is very exciting."

Children's bookstore Curious George Books & Toys reopened last week in Harvard Square under new ownership (the original store, then known as Curious George & Friends, closed in July 2011.) New owners Adam and Jamie Hirsch told the Harvard Crimson they are beefing up their stock of gift and non-book items and have established ties with NBC Universal and Houghton Mifflin "to gain access to their brand and library of Curious George imagery."

The LAT Book Prizes were awarded Friday night to:

Novel: Alex Shakar, Luminarium
Mystery/Thriller: Stephen King, 11/22/63
First Fiction: Ismet Prcic, Shards
Young Adult: Pete Hautman, The Big Crunch
Biography: John A. Farrell, Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned
Current Interest: Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow
History: Richard White, Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America
Science & Technology: Sylvia Nasar, Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius
Graphic Novel: Carla Speed McNeil, Finder: Voice
Poetry: Carl Phillips, Double Shadow: Poems