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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
Over the last three months, Russian missiles twice hit the publisher's warehouses #книголав, resulting in the loss of more than 250 thousand books. During the most recent attack, in the night of 7 October, print runs were damaged as well, some of which have already been restored after the previous strike. These editions, which were meant to reach readers, to be gifts, and to take their place on home shelves.
After the shelling, readers asked not to write off the damaged copies, but to give them a chance to reach new owners. This gave rise to the initiative "Fire Did Not Finish Reading": books with traces of fire that are still readable can be purchased at a special price. Each copy is simultaneously a witness to Russia's war against Ukrainian culture and a reminder of the work of the people who create and publish books.
It hurts me to look at these books, because I know how much work goes into each of them and how many people worked to bring it into being. And how easily all of this can be destroyed by a single rocket. But at the same time I think they have prevailed: they were tried to be destroyed, and they remained,
– says Svitlana Paveletska, co-founder of the publishing house.
The publisher's director, Maksym Prazdnikov, emphasizes: "This is not just books, these are testimonies of the war, a material reminder of what Ukrainian business is enduring".
"Fire Did Not Finish Reading" – this is about the books that survived after the hostile attack / Photo from Instagram #книголав
How "Fire Did Not Finish Reading" works
The surviving copies were divided into five collections: contemporary prose, fantasy, children’s literature, classics, and non-fiction. The buyer chooses the genre, while the exact title remains a surprise: the publisher continues to account for the books that could be saved. This "blind date" may acquaint a reader with a story they would not choose themselves, but which may ultimately become a favorite. On the first day of the promotion #книголав, it received more than 3 thousand orders—and that is incredibly heartening.
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Each copy costs 300 hryvnias. No two identical books will be the same: each has its own fire traces and its own story of being saved. Shipments will begin in November.
I don’t know how many such books we will be able to sell. But I really want as many of them as possible to end up in your libraries,
– adds Svitlana Paveletska.
The copies were divided into five collections / Photo from Instagram #книголав
People who collaborated with the publishing house responded to the loss.
Natalka Denysenko, the editor of the collection "Voice of Light", confessed: "When I saw the news, I thought: These are our books, how could this happen?" […] And it is very painful, because books are our culture, our language".
Olya Tsybulska adds: "Books should smell like coffee, not smoke. This publishing house gave birth to my 'Blooms,' so it hurts me especially for the people who put their soul into each page and then are forced to rescue it from the fire. Buy a book that survived. Not out of pity, but out of love and support. Because within it live someone’s dreams, sleepless nights, and the belief that words can endure".
TV presenter Oksana Gupta, who participated in the publishing house's cultural and charitable initiatives, also emphasized the project's significance: "When Russia annihilates Ukrainian books, it tries to burn our memory itself and kill the nation’s soul. But fire cannot engulf what lives in our hearts! The initiative "Fire Did Not Finish Reading" is not just a chance for books to reach shelves, but also an important testimony to Russia's crimes".
Host Oleksiy Sukhanov, reacting to the news of the damaged books, emotionally reminds us who our enemy is: "the Russian darkness once again burns Ukrainian books. The pain. But these vile, pitiful assaults completely destroy the theses about 'jaws,' 'kists,' and other stale nonsense. For nothing threatens the 'Russian mold' as the foundation of a people—its language, culture, codes, which harden and grow stronger in this blaze of Moscow hatred".
Books that could have turned to ash now await readers.
Thank you for helping us rise from the ashes for the second time in three months,
– Svitlana Paveletska addresses the readers.
Finally, we leave the words of this year’s Radio Dictation announcer 2026, Dasha Astafieva, who also supported the publishing house’s initiative: "These are books that will add charm to every library. Especially because they come from history that, I hope, our generation will never repeat. But we must remember it, even with that small evil, charred edges. It is better than the mistakes and repetition of such terrible events".
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item ""Вогонь не дочитав": Книголав запустив продаж книжок, які вціліли після ракетного удару". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
