The Guardian readers vote for 51st BookBench

Almost two weeks ago, I wrote about Books About Town’s BookBenches project. In summary, the project is a celebration of London’s literary heritage and enjoyment of reading. Fifty books that highlight London’s best were chosen and painted onto book-shaped benches. These BookBenches are placed all over London city.

Some people were surprised that certain London fictions were omitted from the project. Many believed that ‘Harry Potter’ by J.K. Rowling was snubbed.

The Guardian has graciously asked readers to nominate and vote for their favourite book that was not selected for the project. The winning vote will be honoured on an extra bench, number 51. Votes were cast and congratulations to Neil Gaiman! The 51st BookBench will feature artwork inspired by ‘Neverwhere’.

The bench will make its appearance at the end of August. Details of the artist will be revealed soon.

ps: SS Readers Corner has 2 copies of ‘Neverwhere’. I am borrowing a copy and looking forward to experience a London adventure. Have you read the book? If ‘yes’, then ‘Like’ this post.

Our copies of ‘Neverwhere’ has this cover design.

Books about Town project: BookBenches

To celebrate the joys of reading and London’s literary heritage, The National Literacy Trust and Wild in Art recently launched the Books about Town project. Fifty of London’s best books are brought to life in the form of beautifully-illustrated book-shaped benches. These Bookbenches have been placed in various streets of London, with four trails to choose from.

On 7th of October 2014, all BookBenches will be auctioned off to raise funds to address illiteracy problems in United Kingdom. To increase awareness of this project, there are various activities lined up between now and October. One activity that fascinates me is ‘That’s Not My… Online Competition‘. The winner will be awarded 15 books from the ‘That’s not my…’ series. All interested individuals have to do is:

(i) Follow @Usborne and @booksabouttown to get more about the details of the competition

(ii) Once details are announced, upload a photo of yourself at one of the benches via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram

(ii) Insert the hashtag #thatsnotmy and tag to Usborne

People have started to submit entries for this competition. I love the picture of the ‘Dr Seuss’ BookBench below. That angle is brilliant since it captured both Tower Bridge and beautiful artwork of Theodor Seuss Geisel re-imagined by Jane Headford.

http://instagram.com/p/p7K4Kpj1z1

If you would like to receive the latest news on the BookBenches, follow Books About Town on Twitter and Facebook.

ps: My favourite BookBench is George Orwell’s ‘1984’ because the bench perfectly encapsulates the all-seeing eye of Big Brother; every corner in London is being watched by the ruling Party. You could also see the Party’s slogan ‘War is Peace’ at the bottom of the bench. What is your favourite BookBench?

George Orwell’s ‘1984’ BookBench – reimagined by Thomas Dowdeswell