By Medha Godbole
Books That Give, a charitable initiative, has been launched in collaboration with Bookshop.org and Independent Alliance. The plan involves donating 10% of selected Independent Alliance sales to Bookbanks, a charity that provides free books at four food distribution sites in Norfolk, Norwich and London.
The select titles include fiction such as In Ascension by Martin MacInnes, Kala by Colin Walsh, Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan and The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore. Elena Ferrante, Marlon James and Lemn Sissay are just some of the authors gracing this impressive list.
The list also has a heady mix of non-fiction food and cookbooks. A Cheesemonger’s Tour de France by Ned Palmer, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches by Matty Matheson and Seasoning by Angela Clutton are some of the titles in these categories. Each book on this list is published by one of the eighteen independent publishers constituting the Independent Alliance.
For avid book readers, you can support Books That Give by visiting Bookshop.org and buying any book from a list of thirty titles, each nominated by one of the participating Independent Alliance publishers. This initiative is happening all through November and December and the earnings from each purchase will bolster the charity’s long-term mission to expand to other locations across the UK.
Bookbanks’ ambassadors and authors Andrew O'Hagan and Elizabeth Day have wholeheartedly backed this initiative, while Emily Rhodes, Founding Director at Bookbanks, stated that they have now given out over 3,000 books to people accessing food banks. Talking about the initiative, Nicole Vanderbilt, Managing Director of Bookshop.org UK, opined that “At no extra costs to customers, these exciting titles will make great gifts in their own right.”
This initiative will hopefully be the first of many collaborations between Independent Alliance and Bookshop.org, who are known to provide strong support for indie bookshops.