World Book Day 2017

Sunday, April 23, 2017 is World Book Day!

Most of the holidays I see advertised are always ‘National’. National Friendship Day, National Novel Reading Day, or National I like the Color Yellow Day. Sometimes it bothers me, this ‘National’ business, because I want to point out there’s an entire world out there. Why can’t we have more International days? But then I decide it’s all good in the end anyway, because I can’t keep up with all the different holidays.

World Book Day, though, is something I can get behind. It’s all-inclusive, just one day and focuses on a subject I absolutely go gaga over, books and reading. My kind of day.

One way to celebrate is to consider donating to or volunteering for a literacy program like the World Literacy Foundation or Book Aid International. If you’re like me, sometimes the thought of adding another thing on my to-do list is overwhelming, but it only takes a moment to send in a donation.

If you’re in Stockholm and looking for something to do on Sunday, especially if you have small children, consider heading down to the main library, Stockholm Stadsbibliotek, where they plan on having story times and other activities in a variety of languages including English, Swedish, Mongolian, Portuguese and more.

If you don’t feel like going out, pop some popcorn, grab a book and spend an hour or two in your own private adventure. I’m going to see if I can convince my daughter to open up a dragon book she got for Christmas. For my son, he thinks Rolf is the funniest guy ever so we’ll probably run through one of his sagas. I’m actually not sure what my husband is reading at the moment. He has two books on his night stand, Norse Mythology by Gaiman and Snowcrash by Neal Stephenson (great book), but he might be finished with both by the time Sunday rolls around!

What will I be reading? I might pick up a classic called The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. I’ve had it for a while and never had the chance to pick it up.

And now we turn to you. Which adventure will you dive into on World Book Day? Whatever it is, I hope you find a few moments where you can set aside all the stress, to-do lists, and mental clutter of the past day, week, or even year, open up a good book, and enjoy.