Such good news: six new Quick Reads will be published on 11 April 2025. The books retail at £1, and are available to order from library suppliers, bookshops, and The Reading Agency’s online shop. The books are being showcased for this year’s World Book Night celebration.
Charities, social enterprises, prisons, food banks, hospital libraries, workplaces and other community-based organisations can pre-order the Quick Read books with a 30% discount at the Quick Reads shop. The offer is available until 10am on Friday 31 January, 2025.
Customers can order up to 99 titles in a single order of mixed titles and mixed quantities and benefit from a shipping fee of £5. Customers can place multiple orders of up to 99 books to qualify for the £5 shipping fee.
Quick Reads are the charity’s annual flagship initiative, offering short, accessible affordable books written by bestselling authors, to encourage non-readers and lapsed readers to take up reading. They’re specifically written to engage emergent, reluctant, and lapsed readers to help spread the joy of reading and the many benefits it brings.
Quick Reads are perfect for using as a whole group college, workplace, prison, or community read as they have wide appeal and are accessible to a broad range of reading abilities. The six titles this year include three original stories, A Boy Called Saul by bestselling crime author Fiona Cummins, A New Year by the award-winning novelist Leila Aboulela, and The Surprise Visitor from romance writer Cathy Bramley.
There’s also abridged versions of Dr Alex George’s bestseller, The Mind Manual, Abir Mukherjee’s 2016 debut novel A Rising Man, and Cathy Rentzenbrink’s inspiring guide to putting your life on the page, Write It All Down.
Findings from the Reading Agency’s ‘State of the Nation in Adult Reading: 2024’ report highlight stark trends in the nation’s reading habits, with only half of adults now reading regularly, down from 58% in 2015; 35% of UK adults are lapsed readers, who have dropped the reading habit.
Karen Napier, CEO, The Reading Agency, said: “We hope many organisations will come forward and support our ambition to use Quick Reads as a powerful tool for social impact. They’re designed to be an entry point for readers to discover, or rediscover, the joys and benefits reading is scientifically proven to bring. We also recommend Quick Reads for anyone who struggles with reading, for a variety of reasons including dementia, brain injury recovery, attention deficit, dyslexia, and other reasons.”
Orders will be shipped after publication day on 11 April 2025 in time for distribution for World Book Night on 23 April 2025, the Reading Agency’s annual drive to create a nation of readers.
You can find out how you can join in the World Book Night celebration at https://worldbooknight.org/.
In addition, public libraries will be gifted thousands of Quick Reads to hand out to community organisations across the UK on World Book Night, including food banks, homeless shelters, and prisons. Organisations can get in touch with their local library authority to discuss a partnership for gifting. The books will also be available for individuals to buy at the full price of £1 directly from the Reading Agency online shop, or in partnering bookstores, including Amazon and Waterstones.
Quick Reads are designed to be accessible and enjoyable, with the ambition to promote diverse representation in literature and remove barriers to reading. They also address time constraints with shorter, engaging reads. Regular reading has far-reaching social impacts; improving health, wellbeing, life chances and social connections. Adults who read for just 30 minutes a week are 20% more likely to report greater life satisfaction.
Studies have shown reading for pleasure enhances empathy and understanding. Those who read for pleasure also have higher levels of self-esteem, better sleeping patterns and more resilience. Non-readers are 28% more likely to report feelings of depression.
2025 marks the 19th year of The Reading Agency’s Quick Reads initiative. To date, Quick Reads has collaborated with over 30 publishers and produced over 140 titles since 2006, with over 5 million copies distributed, and over 6 million library loans. To pre-order Quick Reads go to The Reading Agency Shop Keep an eye on the Quick Reads resources database for learning resources, social media assets, toolkits and discussion guides. Find out more about the 2025 authors and titles.