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Celebrity bookworms

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World Book Day or World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to promote reading, publishing and copyright. In the United Kingdom, the day is recognized on the first Thursday in March. World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995.

The connection between 23 April and books was first made in 1923 by booksellers in Catalonia as a way to honor the author Miguel de Cervantes, who died on this date. In 1995 UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on 23 April, as the date is also the anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, as well as that of the birth or death of several other prominent authors.

NewsMobile brings you a list of celebrity bookworms who made their love for books public.

Daniel Radcliffe‘s favourite book is ‘The Master and Margarita’ By Mikhail Bulgakov. When asked about his reading habits, he said, “I was reading Louis de Bernières’s trilogy on Latin America and this book came up [on amazon.com] as something I might like, so I bought it. It’s now my favorite novel—it’s just the greatest explosion of imagination, craziness, satire, humor, and heart.” The fantastical work so captured Radcliffe that for his 21st birthday, he traveled to Russia to visit the author’s apartment in Moscow. “There are passages that have become everyday Russian sayings. For instance, ‘Manuscripts don’t burn.’ If it had ever come out that this book was being written, Bulgakov would likely have disappeared permanently. That phrase stands for the fact that nothing is more powerful or more indestructible than the written word.”

 

Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour By J.D. Salinger happens to be Jennifer Lawrence‘s favourtie book.When she was 14, Lawrence traveled to New York City to start her career, so Salinger’s tales of the quintessential New York family—the brilliant, sophisticated, doomed Glasses—have a special place in her heart. “I’m so drawn to Salinger’s view of society back then, and to his sarcasm. I read Catcher in the Rye first, then this one. I don’t think there’s ever been anything like these characters in American literature.”
 

Besides being the wife of the world’s most powerful man, Michelle Obama manages to take time out to read. “One of the books that I loved — one of the first books that I loved and read cover to cover in one day — not because anybody made me read it but because the book was good — it was called — it was a book called Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. And that book helped me love reading, because before then reading was kind of like something you did when you had to do it. But that book, it like grabbed me and pulled me and I just kept reading and kept reading. And any book that does that for me — do you feel that way when you get a book and you just can’t put it down, whether it’s a mystery or one of the gossip things like Camp Confidential? Who reads Camp Confidential? Sasha is loving those books. I think those are just — they just suck her in and she can’t put it down. So those books are my favorite books. And there are many, many others books that I’ve read like that over the years, but Song of Solomon was my first one.”

 

Robin Williams said, “Oh my god, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. It’s one of the greatest books of all time, and the greatest character is The Mule.”

 

When Hillary Rodham Clinton was asked: What are your favorite novels? Your favorite short stories? Poems you hold especially dear? She said, “The Brothers Karamazov made a lasting impression on me when I read it as a young woman; I intend to reread it this summer to see what I now think about it. My favorite short stories are by Alice Munro, especially her collections Carried Away and Runaway. That’s an easy choice for me compared with the many poets I’ve appreciated over time. Included in that list are E. E. Cummings, T. S. Eliot, Seamus Heaney, Pablo Neruda, Mary Oliver and W. B. Yeats.”

 

J.K. Rowling said, “[The Woman Who Walked Into Doors.] It is the most remarkable book. Roddy Doyle gets inside the head of his character so utterly, so completely. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered such a believable, fully rounded female character from any other heterosexual male writer in any age. I should emphasize that I would feel the same way about the book if it had been written by a woman; I would still think it was the most remarkable achievement. But when I sit back and think, ‘A man wrote this?’—phenomenal. He has created a woman who, you imagine, will go to the bathroom and defecate. He also leaves her with her dignity, even though what she’s going through is a horrific thing. And he does it all in such a subtle way. I do think he’s a genius. His dialogue is irreproachable. And your heart…you’re totally drawn into his books. I’m very passionate about Roddy Doyle, and I’ve never met him, which is a frustration to me.”

 

Emma Watson, What is your favorite book and why?

“My dad read me The BFG by Roald Dahl when I was younger. I’m really fond of that book. Le Petit Prince [by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]. I like books that aren’t just lovely but that have memories in themselves. Just like playing a song, picking up a book again that has memories can take you back to another place or another time.”

 

George R.R. Martin: “One of my favorite characters – and I love Lord of the Rings; don’t make it sound like I’m bashing Tolkien here, ‘cause it’s like my favorite book of all time – but my favorite Tolkien character in Lord of the Rings is Boromir, because he’s the grayest of the characters, and he’s the one who really struggles with the ring and ultimately succumbs to it, but then dies heroically. You see, he has both good and evil in him.”

 

Will Smith: “[The Alchemist.] Coelho talks about the whole of the universe, and it’s contained in one grain of sand. For years I’ve been saying that, and now it’s really starting to expose itself to me. My own grain of sand has been a story. The next 10 years will be my peak of innovation in film-making and just as a human being.”

 

Bill Gates: “My favorite of the last decade is [Steven] Pinker’s Better Angels of our Nature. It is long but profound look at the reduction in violence and discrimination over time. I review a lot of the books I read at gatesnotes.com (is that too self-promotional? http://b-gat.es/12GKLyN).”

 

Barack Obama – Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

Known as quite the literary connoisseur, President Obama’s reading habits have been a topic of public interest ever since he was elected president, and there have been numerous roundups of his current reading lists. Among works by Emerson, Twain and Lincoln, Obama frequently cites Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon as one of his favorite novels.

 

Sir Alex Ferguson

Sir Alexander Chapman “Alex” Ferguson, a Scottish former football manager and player, who managed Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. His time at the club has led to Ferguson being regarded as one of the most successful, admired and respected managers in the history of the game. His favourite book is Treasure Island.

 

Narendra Modi – The Indian Prime Minister has been the subject of several books and has written one himself too. However, he has minced no words in stating that his favourite book is The Bhagvad Gita.

 

Actress Deepika Padukone’s favourite book is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. “It’s a wonderful book, I really liked it,” the actress said.

 

The world’s second richest star and Bollywood’s biggest star, Shah Rukh Khan’s favourite book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The star is well known about burning the midnight oil and staying up late to read.

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