The World Book Night U.S. Book picks for 2013 (Photos)

World Book Night U.S. is part of an ambitious global campaign to encourage reading. Each year on April 23, tens of thousands of people go out into their communities and give half a million free World Book Night paperbacks to light and non-readers. The program began in the UK in 2011 and in 2012, World Book Night was celebrated in the U.S., the UK, Ireland, and Germany.

View slideshow: The World Book Night U.S. Book picks for 2013

On April 23, 2013, a half million free books will be handed out in towns and cities across America. The World Book Night (WBN) organization enlists the help of 25,000 volunteer book lovers to help promote reading. WBN givers go into their communities and personally handing out specially printed copies to light or non-readers and to those without the means or access to printed books.

This year's honorary national chairpeople for World Book Night U.S. 2013 are
bestselling authors Ann Patchett and James Patterson.

James Patterson said: “In my experience, when people like what they are doing, they do more of it. This is the genius of World Book Night — it gets people reading by connecting them with amazing, enjoyable books. I’m honored to be a part of it.”

“I’m very proud to be a part of World Book Night,” Ann Patchett added. “As both a writer and a bookseller, I’m all in favor of getting books into the hands of people who might not otherwise have access to them.”

The 30 World Book Night U.S. titles for 2013, chosen by an independent panel of

booksellers and librarians, have been announced. Carl Lennertz, World Book Night U.S. Executive Director, commented: “This isn't a best-books-of-all-time list; these are contemporary or classic books that appeal to a wide range of new readers. We looked for diversity and variety in all things: subject matter, age level, gender, as well as ethnic and geographic considerations. Last year’s givers also got to nominate books. This is a beautiful mix with, I hope, some old friends and nice surprises! And we thank the authors, who have agreed to waive royalties on the World Book Night editions.”

The Ray Bradbury Estate told WBN organizers that: “Because Ray Bradbury always encouraged and promoted reading books, his family is honored that Fahrenheit 451 will be part of such a wonderful event as World Book Night.”

The 30 World Book Night U.S. titles for 2013, alphabetical by author, are:

'The Handmaid’s Tale', Margaret Atwood (Anchor Books/Random House)

'City of Thieves', David Benioff (Plume/Penguin Book Group)

'Fahrenheit 451', Ray Bradbury (Simon & Schuster Paperbacks)

'My Antonia', Willa Cather (public domain; edition tbd)

'Girl with a Pearl Earring', Tracy Chevalier (Plume/Penguin Book Group)

'The House on Mango Street', Sandra Cisneros (Vintage/Random House) - also in Spanish

'The Alchemist', Paulo Coelho (HarperOne/HarperCollins) - also in Spanish

'The Language of Flowers', Vanessa Diffenbaugh (Ballantine Books/Random House)

'The Worst Hard Time', Timothy Egan (Mariner Books/HoughtonMifflinHarcourt)

'Bossypants', Tina Fey (Regan Arthur/Back Bay Books)

'Still Alice', Lisa Genova (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster)