- Today, April 23, marks World Book Day, which has been a UNESCO-founded holiday to celebrate reading for the past 19 years.
- For World Book Day, Oprah shared what she's currently reading: The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger.
In 1995, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization—better known as UNESCO—named April 23 World Book Day. Each year, to honor the date of the deaths of writers William Shakespeare, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, and Miguel de Cervantes, literary lovers around the world celebrate the gift of books. "In these turbulent times, books embody the diversity of human ingenuity, giving shape to the wealth of human experience, expressing the search for meaning and expression we all share," Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, has said.
Here at OprahMag.com, we celebrate books every day—as does the O of O herself, who has written about the joy she finds in reading. The reward of reading, Oprah says, "has always been the way your mind is expanded when you’re exposed to new adventures and ideas."
Scribner The Choice: Embrace the Possible
So of course, Oprah is spending World Book Day engrossed in good literature. She shared with OprahMag.com her current read: The Choice, a memoir by now-90-year-old Holocaust survivor Dr. Edith Eva Eger. In the book, Eger pens a story of resilience, going from a 16-year-old ballerina and gymnast to the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz—and surviving.
Oprah says she's reading the memoir to prepare for an upcoming SuperSoul interview with Eger next week.
"I’ll be forever changed by her story," Oprah says of Eger. "It's a reminder of what courage looks like in the worst of times. And that 'We all have the ability to pay attention to what we’ve lost, or to pay attention to what we still have.'"
To date, Oprah has selected 80 books for Oprah's Book Club, and last month, she announced that she'll be working with Apple to create "the biggest book club on the Planet." In the February issue of O, she wrote about the power of reading—and why often, a book is even better when enjoyed with others. "I love books and the community that’s created when people share them."
What are you reading for World Book Day and beyond? Let us know in the comments below.
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