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A new initiative has been launched to spark islanders' love for books and give a second life to novels that would otherwise be "languishing" on charity shop shelves for years.
Local author Kate Winder set up 'Jersey's Blind Date with a Book' just under two weeks ago.
She explained that during the summer, she saw a man at La Collette throwing away a box full of books.
"I had this moment of 'No, stop!'," she said.
Pictured: Kate Winder is the founder of 'Jersey's Blind Date With A Book'.
Kate explained that, although she felt too awkward to rescue the box of books that day, she felt inspired to create an initiative that would get other unwanted books in front of new readers.
'Blind date with a book' allows islanders to be connected with a curated package featuring a random novel in the genre of their choice.
To set up a the 'blind date', readers get in touch with Kate's Facebook page and are sent a few questions asking what sort of books they like – but also if there is anything they would like to avoid.
"The whole concept is to give a new life to books that are just languishing in charity shops or, god forbid, going to the pit," said Kate.
"I'm a huge bookworm. I read up to five, maybe six books a week. Books are like a religion."
Kate acknowledged the idea itself isn't new – Jersey Library has run a 'blind date with a book' scheme before, as have local charities and online creators.
In Kate's scheme, each book comes wrapped with small gifts like a bookmark, hot chocolate, sweets or seeds.
"A good date needs gifts!" she said.
She described wrapping the books at her kitchen table, which takes "a significant chunk of time".
But Kate has also benefitted from the scheme herself, with customers' requests encouraging her to branch out from her usual reads of sci-fi and fantasy.
She added that she was surprised by the number of requests for thrillers.
One of her favourite books, Kate said, was a charity sale find that she wouldn't normally have picked up – Patrick Rothfuss's 'The Name of the Wind'.
"I would love to give that to someone else," she said.
With each book package priced at £7, the scheme is "not a retirement plan" for Kate, but a way to get books read.
"My main hope has been and remains to bring books to people and encouraging the love," she said.
In addition to sourcing books from charity shops, Kate said 10% of profits would go back to local charities including Mind Jersey, the JSPCA, and Headway.
There has recently been a revival in interest in reading, Kate said, with some high-profile releases such as Freida McFadden's Housemaid series – the first instalment of which has sold more than two million copies and has been optioned for film rights by Lionsgate.
"Jersey lost three bookshops in the past 20 years... but the world is going through a bit of a re-love for books," she explained.
"I think everywhere needs something like this. I think we all need a reminder that books can be purchased in places other than online retailers which I won't name."
Kate added that the community she had found, both locally and online, were supportive.
Kate has been using TikTok – and particularly 'BookTok', a label used by online creators who post about books – to promote her new novel under her pen name Kate Alexandra.
@katealexandrawinder Meet my characters! Full discloser, images created on Midjourny. I want to pay an artist, but I need to save up for that. For now, these placeholders are it. #author #comingsoon #yabook #nabook #romancebooks #kpopromance #kpopbook #kpopfyp #authorsoftiktok #authorsofbooktok #lovestory #fyp #booktok #kpop #iamwriting #characters #writer #contemporyromance ♬ Notice Me - Guchi & Loud Behaviour
'A World Apart' is set to be published in December.
It is a contemporary romance that brings together a Korean popular music superstar – known as a K-pop idol – and a fan in a world where K-pop idols are bound by contracts that forbid dating.
"How do they navigate a relationship in a world that doesn't want them to be together?" asked Kate.
Islanders interested in a blind date with a book can message Kate's Facebook page
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