A million reasons to pick up a book

In an initiative designed to boost reading, more than 20,000 people picked their favourite book from 25 titles and were given 48 copies to pass on to friends and family.

The books included works by the Scots novelist Muriel Spark and Carol Ann Duffy, the current poet laureate.

BBC Two also screened an evening of special programmes to mark the event, which included live broadcasts from Glasgow, Manchester and London.

The idea has had widespread support from authors, although some independent booksellers have raised concerns that the event could damage future sales.

Writer Philip Pullman, whose book Northern Lights was among those being given away, said he was "thrilled" by the event.

"It's a wonderful idea," he said. "It's very original and yet it seems so obvious. Give books to people and they enjoy them and go and buy more books."

The charity's chairman Jamie Byng, who runs Edinburgh-based publishers Canongate, said: "World Book Night is a unique collaboration between publishers, booksellers, libraries, writers and individual members of the public, and one that I think is going to have an enormously positive impact on books and reading. There are few things more meaningful than the personal recommendation, and having one million books given to one million different people on one night in this way is both unprecedented and hugely exciting."

Other authors whose works were involved in World Book Night included Margaret Atwood, John le Carr and Alan Bennett.