MONTHLY UPDATE: Everybook mentioned in a vlogbrothers video. PLUS A BOOK GIVE AWAY? AND DECREASING WORLD SUCK?

About two weeks ago I published a list of every single book mentioned in a vlogbrothers video. It took me over 20 hours to do but was well worth the effort. John and Hank and even Katherine (no Yeti sightings yet) have cited over 150 books since January 1st 2007. Every month from now on I will write a quick overview of the books brought up... if any...

You see, although the vlogbrothers mention a ton of literature in their videos, a book is only posted on the list once. For instance, John has mentioned Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor over 5 times. It only appears on the list once.

This sometimes leads to a dry spell of new books and in your pants jokes throughout their videos. July broke a two month absence of new book titles added to the list. John mentioned nine new books in late July, Hank hasn't uttered a new title yet.

To check out the entire list click here.

Now onto the book give away!

It's true. I am giving away a copy of John's favorite book Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor to a random commenter on this post! All you have to do is write a sentence about anything. No requirements, I mean I guess it doesn't have to be a sentence, but don't leave a comment like this "assdtjrtnvsguowgbn". I'll pick the randomly generated recipient of the book 48 hours after this blog is posted. (so no comments will be eligible after Sunday around 6:00PM EST)

The reason I'm doing this is to get your attention!

Now that I have it... I'd like to share with you an idea to decrease world suck.

As I've mentioned previously the complete vlogbrothers book list contains over 150 books. For the most part, all of the books are books that people want to read. Unfortunately, there are a lot of places that don't have access to these books due to poverty and/or lack of community resources. I'm not just talking globally I'm also talking about nationally (USA Nerdfighters). The public school system in America has been around an orange on the World Suck Scale for about as long as it has existed.

What are your opinions on setting up some sort of fund, or charity drive to get the book list books out to schools, homeless shelters, refugee camps, poverty sticken communities, globally and locally?

Maybe we could set up an affiliation program through Amazon so that anytime someone buys one of the books featured on the list we could make money and then donate the funds we earn to a book charity. Just an idea.

I'm interested to see what other people think about this.

Tags: blurbing, book, books, club, fighter, hank, john, lists, nerd, project

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Comment by James Jensen on July 31, 2009 at 11:16pm: I never say no to a free book.

Comment by Jose Ortiz on July 31, 2009 at 11:06pm: Having a program that allows impoverished people to get there hands on great books is an awesome idea

Comment by Yali Bitan on July 31, 2009 at 11:01pm: the in your pants joke has taken up hours upon hours of time in boring classes. thank goodness for nerdfighters. DFTBA

Comment by Kevin Ross on July 31, 2009 at 10:54pm: Sounds like a great idea.

Comment by Meg Eldritch on July 31, 2009 at 10:46pm: I work in a bookstore and we JUST started a donation campagin for a local organization that gives children's books to doctors, who then teach parents AND children the importance of literacy and reading out loud together. It's a wonderful program. Everyone deserves a good book! I made the first donation for my store, I donated "Madeline"!

Comment by Vlademir on July 31, 2009 at 10:29pm: I think it would be a really great idea to help allow everyone access to books as long as everyone involved in the selling of the books was okay with the idea of some sort of fund or charity to be incorporated in the profit made from selling them.

Comment by Steve Graham on July 31, 2009 at 10:29pm: Does anyone have any connections with amazon that could get that working??
The guys at Penny-Arcade do Child's play and have lists for each childrens hospital on Amazon of toys and such the kids want, and people buy them for them. Maybe something along those lines (only on a broader and bigger scale). Set up lists from school districts and school libraries and have people either send them a copy (hopefully they are supported by the local nerdfighters/community), or somebody can offer to buy it.
I feel like that would be inefficient, but its a general starting idea from a very sleepy person.

Comment by Steven Morris on July 31, 2009 at 10:05pm: Super awesome. I would gladly contribute to the affiliation program in any way needed.

Comment by TapperLisa on July 31, 2009 at 9:56pm: I think a fund is a brilliant idea. Perhaps also a book drive like the Harry Potter Alliance did earlier this year with "Accio Books!" In just one month, the HPA’s Accio Books! Campaign raised 13,481 books to send to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda. The Nerdfighter community could do something similar.