Get your nose in a book to mark World Book Day

From vampires to French food, we've got movie and TV-inspired books for everyone.

Switch off your TVs, put down your phones and step away from your computers (not right now obviously, but give it a minute!) as today is the one day of the year when we should all make more of an effort to trade the marvels of modern technology for something a little more old school (though thankfully, school has nothing to do with it) for today is World Book Day. As the name so cleverly suggests, this is a time when we’re all encouraged to pick up and read a book, being the biggest celebration of books and reading in the UK and Ireland.

Designated by UNESCCO as an initiative to encourage reading, World Book Day was officially established in 1995 and while there are national variations (something you wouldn’t expect from something with the word ‘world’ in its title we admit) it falls on the 4th of March in this corner of Europe and with so many people making such great efforts to celebrate it, we wanted to get in on the act. Such exciting endeavours include top authors attending signings and participating in workshops and storytime events for youngsters, while the thrifty among us will love the £1 book deals, Book Token offers and wide range of competitions.

Of course, much of this is aimed at children, looking to nurture a love of reading at a young age, yet it doesn’t want to be exclusive or to turn people away. Instead, World Book Day is something we can all appreciate and making that extra effort to read is something we could all probably benefit from. Even the biggest bookworms among us can find something to distract us from the words on the page and World Book Day is that friendly reminder to get back to that book we started but is now gathering dust somewhere.

And if you reckon reading’s not your bag, just take a wander into any book store or a cyber skip around Amazon and see if you don’t find something that sparks your interest. Whatever your taste, there’s something papery to satisfy with the choices offered by online stores simply astounding – not that it even needs to be made of paper anymore. The staggering success of Amazon Kindle has paved the way for eBooks in mainstream markets, so you don’t have to lug around a back-breaking book but rather a light and little gadget that gives you the same literature experience – bingo!

So where to start when there are so many options? Well, we’ve picked out eight of the biggest bestsellers currently finding favour both in the UK and the US to kick things off. Naturally, they all share a film flavour or TV taste that has seen them adapted with some already established as firm favourites and others being promising newcomers.

Sink your teeth into the vampire craze with Breaking Dawn, the fourth and final instalment in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, and L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries, the TV sensation which is now enjoying a new trilogy, The Return (Shadow Souls, the sixth novel is available to pre-order in the US and its predecessor, Nightfall is new in the UK).

Reach for the hankies with touching romance in the form of Audrey Niffenegger’s award-winning literary debut, 2003’s The Time Traveler’s Wife, which, last year, hit the big screen with Eric Bana (Troy) as the titular time traveler and Rachel McAdams as the woman he loves. Or Dear John following the love story between sparky college student, Savannah Lynn (played by Mamma Mia!’s Amanda Seyfried) and a young US soldier sent to fight on foreign soil (Channing Tatum) from the pen of Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook).

Move away from romance, but don’t sacrifice the high drama with The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold’s phenomenal bestseller about life, loss and moving on, now a critically acclaimed film by Oscar-winning director, Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir charting her post-divorce around the world journey of self-discovery soon to hit cinemas with Julia Roberts in the lead role.

In the mood for something a bit grittier? Check out the hugely popular crime novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the late Swedish writer, Stieg Larsson, the first in his Millennium trilogy. The film of the same name, shot in its native Swedish, is on release in the UK and US later in the month, while an English language version is also the talk of Tinseltown.

And if neither vampires, romance, drama or crime are luring you to the library, how’s about giving it a miss altogether and heading straight to the kitchen with legendary TV chef, Julia Child’s definitive cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1? It’s featured in cookery comedy, Julie & Julia and is a practical and fun way to introduce a bit of book love into your life!