5 Books I Think You Should Buy On World Book Day

Are you looking for some good books? In this post, one of our bloggers suggests five books to buy on World Book Day!

In honour of the day Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died, 23 April 1616, World Book Day has been celebrated for almost a hundred years in Spain, and for 26 years by the UN.

To celebrate the day, most bookstores will be having sales. Amazon is giving away 10 free ebooks and you can also go to Worldbookday.com to get tokens for free or discounted books for children.

But What To Get?

I can’t speak to your taste in books, but here are five of my most reread and treasured books plus one guilty pleasure pulp book I will be getting.

5 Books I Think You Should Buy On World Book Day

1. The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien

Thinking back some 20 years, The Hobbit and Harry Potter were some of the staples from my childhood along with the serial children’s fiction books like Animorphs.

Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a book that has stayed with me through the years. It is still a comforting read whenever one wants to get away from reality and find out what Mr Baggins is having for breakfast.

2. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

The first of a trilogy of books set in Discworld about a conman forced to go good, Going Postal deals with corporate greed, family tragedy, and a magical robotic workforce with all best the humour Terry Pratchett could muster.

Give it a read you’ll never use the term ‘guardian angel’ in the same way ever again.

3. Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

The Assassin’s Apprentice is the first book in the most well-grounded and enjoyable fantasy world ever to be printed. It puts to shame The Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire.

With likeable and well developed characters and a plot that moves faster than you might be ready for, you will find yourself reading a dozen of Robin Hobb’s books over the course of the next few months.

4. A Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Sometimes you just want to know everything and luckily Bill Bryson does, and he has written a short(ish) book about it.

Delivered in his classic witty and playful tone, it is a delight to read even if you hate non-fiction.

A Short History of Nearly Everything covers the birth of the universe and everything it contains. Well not quite, but you will feel like you know everything after reading this fascinating book.

5. Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good by Timothy Zahn

My upcoming pulp book of choice, Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good, is the latest book in a series from Timothy Zahn. I have become addicted to these books about a fictional Admiral called Thrawn from the Star Wars franchise.

What I like about it, besides it being about spaceships, is that he takes a serious, fast-paced, fun tone to a silly, action-packed world.

In this series we follow an admiral who lacks any political awareness but who is a tactical genius and notable art lover.

It is fascinating to follow Thrawn as dismantles his enemies’ tactics by analysing their taste in art or fashion to find their weaknesses. It’s almost like a Sherlock Holmes book set in space if Holmes were a gentleman art critic in charge of a battle fleet.

Hey, I didn’t promise you high fiction.

The Last Word

Regardless of how or if you celebrate World Book Day, why not make it special for a loved one by getting them a book you think they should read? Maybe you can help them discover one of their favourite books of all time.

Written by Christopher Luke Dean (While daydreaming about alien art galleries.)

Christopher Luke Dean writes and facilitates for Writers Write. Follow him on Twitter: @ChrisLukeDean

More Posts From Christopher:

1. Writers Talk 8 | My Year Of Writing
2. Writers Talk 7 | Dialogue
3. Writers Talk 6 | Fantasy Sub-Genres
4. 7 Scenes You Won’t Find In Good Fiction Writing
5. Writers Talk 5 | Short Stories

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