Would you like to join me on Twitter for Tweet Talk Give on Thursday 3 March, 8pm onwards?
(Disclosure: my lovely other half has started providing some social media support for the charity Book Aid International.)
World Book Day, a UNESCO-designated day to celebrate all the incredible things that books can bring us, takes place on 3 March. It also raises money for a really deserving charity, Book Aid International. Book Aid International sends books to sub-Saharan Africa and the Occupied Palestinan Territories, basically helping to educate and bring communities together so they can work together for unity and prosperity. This explains it pretty well:
Books change lives from Book Aid International on Vimeo.
And just £2 sends another book to a library that really needs it.
Book Aid International has a little fundraising event called Meet Talk Give that would really appeal to me if I was part of a proper book group…but I'm not. There are loads of book groups on Twitter though, so I decided to do one of my own, just for World Book Day.
I've *imaginatively* called it Tweet Talk Give. If you'd like to read a good book, share a few tweets about it and make a little donation, feel free to join in at 8pm on 3 March 😀
I've got a few things to sort out first, including choosing a micro-donation service. But first I need to choose a book. Playing to my own tastes, I'm pondering What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July, or The Safety of Objects by AM Homes. They are all short, two are short story collections, so hopefully everyone can all feel like they've achieved a good read even if they are pushed for time before World Book Day.
But I'm open to suggestions. If you'd like to join in, and would like to vote for one of the titles above or suggest another, just leave me a comment. What would you suggest?
I'll post and tweet about the book we plump for in the next few days…oh, and we'll be using the hashtag #tweettalkgive.
james hogwood's blog 
I’m in! I think you should go for What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. Do you have a preference yourself?
Me too! I don’t mind any of them but would probably err on the side of No One Belongs Here. I can read pretty quick but the sooner you decide the sooner I can get down to Waterstones….or shall I just go buy all 3 anyway – mm?
excellent! thanks both for your comments…people have also tended to favour the haruki murakami or the miranda july when i’ve asked them elsewhere.
i’ll blog by the end of the weekend with details of the winning book, and more details generally!
James, I’ll give it a go as well. Your suggestions sound fine so I’ll leave the final choice to you. Also wondered if something by Egyptian writer Nawal El Saadawi would be appropriate, given she was one of the Writers in Prison included in the 26:50 project. I went to see her speak when she was in London last year, inspirational! Many of her books are quite short too.
thanks, sue! somehow i’ve only just spotted your comment…hope you’ll have seen the updates here, on 26 and twitter.
we’re reading the murakami, and i’m doing some audioboos for anyone who wants to take part but doesn’t have time to devour the book. thanks for the recommendation, i will check her out, and please feel free to talk about her work during tweet talk give next week!