"bookcrossing"

[SleepyWitch]

heyho,
I've recently started bookcrossing, and I'm appaled at the amount of trashy books release there. don't get me wrong, I think bookcrossing itself is really cool and a great idea....
couldn't we do something similar for members of lit net, only we'd release better qualitiy books?

[Lioness_Heart]

what is bookcrossing?

[SleepyWitch]

basically, you put a book you don't want any longer in a public space for other people to pick up (e.g. you leave it at a bus stop). you put a lable with an identification code on it. then the person can find this book on the bookcrossing web site and leave a comment about it.
after they've read it they "release" it again.
this way, a book can travel around the world and people can leave comments
(google bookcrossing for their webpage. i don't want to give the link here, seing as I complained about the trashy books some people release. i don't mean to say it's a bad thing)

[Lioness_Heart]

Wow!! I like it. I think we should do something like that.

[Virgil]

basically, you put a book you don't want any longer in a public space for other people to pick up (e.g. you leave it at a bus stop). you put a lable with an identification code on it. then the person can find this book on the bookcrossing web site and leave a comment about it.
after they've read it they "release" it again.
this way, a book can travel around the world and people can leave comments
(google bookcrossing for their webpage. i don't want to give the link here, seing as I complained about the trashy books some people release. i don't mean to say it's a bad thing)

Won't it get wet in the rain? :p

[SleepyWitch]

Won't it get wet in the rain? :p

well over here bus stops have shelters... it was only a random example anyway :) you can leave it at a cafe or library etc

[Admin]

Its a neat idea, probably copied from wheresgeorge.com

I don't know about just copying it again though, although I do think it has a lot of potential and could end up driving lots of traffic here.

[Lioness_Heart]

I do think it has a lot of potential and could end up driving lots of traffic here.

Are you saying that this is a good or a bad thing?

[Nightshade]

Bookcrossing has as far as I know been going for atleast 5 years probably more as I first heard about it a couple of years before we left egypt, But Ive never manged to find a book. There is another scheme I cant think what its called right now but I think I have bookmarked on my other computer anyway its where you post the books, maybe that would be better for the litnet sort of thing?

[papayahed]

Bookcrossing has as far as I know been going for atleast 5 years probably more as I first heard about it a couple of years before we left egypt, But Ive never manged to find a book. There is another scheme I cant think what its called right now but I think I have bookmarked on my other computer anyway its where you post the books, maybe that would be better for the litnet sort of thing?

like a book swap?


I've released a few books on bookcrossing - they never went anywhere. Took the wind out of my sails.

[Nightshade]

yepp thats it a book swap rather than a 'release' course with history we have around here with post ( thinking Trolley ) might not be such a good idea that .

[SleepyWitch]

do you mean post as in send my snail mail?
that would be cool.. we could have a kind of chain swap... person1 passes the book on to person2, they send it on to person3 and so on..
of course members would have to agree to participate and give their snail mail addy by PM

[papayahed]

yepp thats it a book swap rather than a 'release' course with history we have around here with post ( thinking Trolley ) might not be such a good idea that .




:bawling: :bawling: Poor, Poor Trolley.

[Nightshade]

:bawling: :bawling: Poor, Poor Trolley.

I like to think she went on a massive book tour of England ... :nod:

[SleepyWitch]

who's Trolley? :confused:
did i miss something important?

[Nightshade]

Humm we had a troll we were sending on a world tour but she got lost between Helga in Iceland and me.

[SleepyWitch]

oh noooo, that's annoying. poor troll
did you post in in the UK? if so, it's all the Royal Mail's fault. only Deutsche Post loses more letters/parcels than them:flare:

[Nightshade]

No it never arrived from iceland...but RM was probably to blame knowing them.

[Niamh]

So is it okay if we leave a book for someone to pick up, and ask them to come here and say what book they found and where?

[Countess]

I'm confused. Are you telling me one of you is going to travel 200+ miles to Niceville Florida to pick up a book I left at a gas station?

Wouldn't it be cheaper to order it online at Amazon.com?

[SleepyWitch]

I'm confused. Are you telling me one of you is going to travel 200+ miles to Niceville Florida to pick up a book I left at a gas station?

Wouldn't it be cheaper to order it online at Amazon.com?

hehe i guess you're right, Countess..
nope, i thought we could swap them by snail mail or something but Nighty said they sent a troll around the world once and it got lost

[.closed.]

I think that Bookcrossing is a great idea, when I read about it; my imagination was instantly enchanted by the idea of sharing literature.

I always leave books in areas that are visible, protected from the elements and well frequented. A few examples are as follows:

The Great Gatsby - Green Park tube station London
Heart of Darkness - Park Bench Hyde Park London
Fathers and Sons - Liverpool Street Costa Coffee London
Crime and Punishment - Waterloo station London
Sense and Sensibility - Westminster Cathedral London
Master and Man - My office canteen London
The Gambler - Tottenham FC football ground London
The Idiot - Convent Garden underground station
Malcolm X Autobiography – Heathrow Airport
Pride and Prejudice – Barbican Centre London

One day I decided to observe peoples reaction to a book left and who would eventually find it and take it with them. So I set off on a sunny afternoon to the park to enjoy the London heat wave. I discreetly left the book on a park bench in Green Park and sat where I had a perfect view of my lonely book awaiting a new owner. The book was Dostoevsky’s Memoirs from the House of the Dead, which is quite a daunting title and there were many people glancing and a few had a look but put it back after reading the synopsis. Finally after three hours, a lady came along sat down, made a phone call and after a quick look picked it up and sauntered off. The strange thing about this whole scene was that there were a few people who I was really egging on to rescue my book and others who I was thinking; you don’t look like a good owner who will take care of my book and pass it on.

Anyway, I am enjoying sharing literature and I hope that the recipients of these books have a great time reading!

[kathycf]

I think if a book is mailed simply from point a to point b, there is lot less chance of it getting lost.

[CountingSheep]

A friend of mine recently found a book in a coffee shop. It had a note in it that encouraged reading, and then it said for the finder to pass it on. I was dumbfounded and couldn't figure out why I hadn't done the same thing with a few books. My friend doesn't read much... but she still decided to drop the book off at another coffee shop just to keep it moving I suppose.

I think it's a pretty wicked idea... but I can't help but wonder wheather donating books to a library would be better.

[Niamh]

I've gone and left The Third Policeman by flann O'Brian on the airport bus asking who ever picks it up to read it and pass it on. It leaves a thrilling feeling and make you imagine all these wild adventures the lucky book is going to have!

[CountingSheep]

I'd be one to watch from afar to see what happens like PrinceAndrei.