A book is not only a friend, it makes friends for you. When you have possessed a book with mind and spirit, you are enriched. But when you pass it on you are enriched threefold.
Henry Miller
The Books In My Life (1969)
I have been playing Easter Bunny today. I havent been hiding eggs though. I've been hiding books.
I can't remember quite how I ended up involved in the Bookcrossing project but it was recent comments from Kinto and FlameRetardntMan that reminded me I hadnt "released" any books for a while.
It works like this. Read a book. Register it on the website and get a book number. Write the number on a sticker, stick the sticker to the book and then release the book into the wild. If someone picks up the book they can go to the website, register their find and when they've read it they release it again.
You can release a book anywhere. Coffee shops and train stations are quite popular but some books have gone around the world, released in airports and on planes.
I released four books today in and around Covent Garden. It's deliciously exciting and reminds me of being a cold war spy, but then I am a terribly sad geek about these things. For my last two books I retired to a safe distance to watch and they were both picked up within a few minutes.
It's so wonderful to see a stranger pick up the book you've released. They always look mystified for a moment while they read the sticker on the front. Sometimes they start looking around as if they think it's some kind of practical joke, but they always walk away with the book in the end.
It's small things like this that bring joy to my soul. If anything truly big and wonderful ever happened to me I sometimes think I'd explode.
Henry Miller
The Books In My Life (1969)
I have been playing Easter Bunny today. I havent been hiding eggs though. I've been hiding books.
I can't remember quite how I ended up involved in the Bookcrossing project but it was recent comments from Kinto and FlameRetardntMan that reminded me I hadnt "released" any books for a while.
It works like this. Read a book. Register it on the website and get a book number. Write the number on a sticker, stick the sticker to the book and then release the book into the wild. If someone picks up the book they can go to the website, register their find and when they've read it they release it again.
You can release a book anywhere. Coffee shops and train stations are quite popular but some books have gone around the world, released in airports and on planes.
I released four books today in and around Covent Garden. It's deliciously exciting and reminds me of being a cold war spy, but then I am a terribly sad geek about these things. For my last two books I retired to a safe distance to watch and they were both picked up within a few minutes.
It's so wonderful to see a stranger pick up the book you've released. They always look mystified for a moment while they read the sticker on the front. Sometimes they start looking around as if they think it's some kind of practical joke, but they always walk away with the book in the end.
It's small things like this that bring joy to my soul. If anything truly big and wonderful ever happened to me I sometimes think I'd explode.
VIEW 19 of 19 COMMENTS
hermetica:
I just bookmarked that page. I'm so doing the bookcrossing thing! Love it! 
rainwolfkin:
you're going to have everyone reading those books of your soon! its a great idea. i can't wait to register my book shelf and then take a trip book hunting!