Some 187,000 books will be handed out for free in communities across the UK tonight to celebrate World Book Night (April 23). 

Hundreds of volunteers will share their love of reading by giving out books to people in their communities who, for whatever reason, don’t read for pleasure or own books.

A selection of 15 books were chosen for this year’s giveaway, covering a range of genres including crime, poetry, non-fiction, Quick Reads, historical and contemporary fiction, fantasy and memoir.

Titles include Holly Bourne’s Am I Normal Yet?, Love Poems by Carol Ann Duffy, Matt Haig’s Reasons To Stay Alive, The Rotters’ Club by Jonathan Coe, Treachery by SJ Parris and Ann Cleeves’ Too Good To Be True.

The event hopes to encourage reading for pleasure, which is a globally recognised indicator in a huge range of social issues from poverty to mental health. Yet in the UK 36 per cent of people don’t regularly read.

Jonathan Coe, author of World Book Night 2016 title The Rotters’ Club, says: “I’m delighted to be part of World Book Night 2016. Reading is the best possible way to foster imagination, empathy and mutual understanding, and never have those qualities been more needed than at the present time.”

There will also be more than 100 national, regional and local events running up and down the country, such as Love Poems by Carol Ann Duffy being handed out in Kings Cross station.

Individuals are also encouraged to get involved in a variety of ways, such as organising celebrations in their community which they can submit online to have added to the official event listing, or giving away their own books to friends, family or strangers.

Since it began in 2011, World Book Night has involved an extraordinary group of 56,000 volunteers, giving books away to over 2.25 million people.

To find out about events near you click here.