Cinnamon Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 A friend of mine just told me about the most brilliant scheme & website. Apologies if this has been posted before. www.bookcrossing.com This is how it works. people release books they no longer want "into the wild", first registering them online at the site. Then, someone else picks it up, read it & releases it themselves. You release it by just leaving it somehwere (cafe, Supermarket,Park bench) with a lable on it explaining the scheme. So, if you register a book & release it, you can follow its history & see who else has picked it up. It sounds like a lot of fun ,as you can "hunt" for books in your town (a cafe in Henley has 15 to choose from!) My friend found a book she wanted by the chocolate eclairs in Tesco And it also a great way of recycling your books,too. I have not explained it very well, as I have only just registered myslf, but the website is very informative. it sounds like a great idea for people like me who read lots of books & end up with a pile of unwanted ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicola H Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 Sarah thanks for that it sounds like a great idea I shall be looking out for books at the supermarket on Friday I may even take some of my own.................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DucktorWho Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 That sounds like fun! (Although the thought of reading a book that's been in a phone box for a week makes me itch slightly) I might start doing this, I could do with a bookshelf clearout! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted September 14, 2005 Author Share Posted September 14, 2005 I know what you mean. I am a bit icky about second hand books, but I just like this idea. I went to Tesco earlier & left a book by the cream buns (I figure it will get a large female audience there!), & it was jsut so good to think that someone may pick it up & read it. I also left one in the park opposite my house, but I reckon that is more likely to be attacked & set alight by local youths than found by someone On the whole I am pretty obsessive about my books. I have some that I just love so much that I could never part with them. I re read a few every year or so,classics & modern alike, so to be honest the ones I set free will be the ones I can live without reading again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 What a great idea. I think it should be the law that all books should be left in the cake section though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DucktorWho Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I'm curious about the ones in Tesco's....how do you get out with them without the store detectives Asking Questions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted September 14, 2005 Author Share Posted September 14, 2005 Well, they have a big sticker on the front with something along the lines of "I'm Free" or "Take me Home - I am a travelling book" or "Pick me up & take me home - free book" You can download these from the bookcrossing site. They are also second hand, so are a bit more scruffy than usual! One guy on the website left a book on a London - scotland train, so it may have ended up over there, or as it is a worldwide thing you can leave the books you take on holiday ,which of course gives you more space in your luggage for alcohol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted September 14, 2005 Author Share Posted September 14, 2005 I forgot to mention that some smaller shops keep the books tucked away & you have to ask for them. Doing this may be a bit embarassing - " can I see your selection of under the counter books,please?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I can never give books away - we keep them all and just keep extending the house. However my American relatives left some books which i probably won't readso I could use those. Great Idea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steph Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 thats a thing i ought to start reading more books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnieP Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 I can never give books away - we keep them all and just keep extending the house. That's why we're having an extension too!!....if only I could give them away....but I can't.I just have to keep every book I read. However, if I found one, I think I would pass it on in the spirit of the thing....but would probably then have to go out and buy a copy for myself...Are there rules about you having to like the book you give away? I can imagine people only getting rid of rubbish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted September 14, 2005 Author Share Posted September 14, 2005 I am giving away the books that I know I will never read again, because I just have not enjoyed them that much, but that doesn't mean to say that they won't be enjoyed buy someone else. They are all modern fiction & in Waterstones now & one is an Orange prize winner, but not a book I LOVED. You do not have to pass on anything if you want to keep it.That is part of the beauty of the scheme. There are many books I just could not part with, in fact I think they almost become part of you. I now only keep books I LOVE.......but I still have lots (about 200 I reckon), & we have just finished our second extension on our previously 2 up 2 down cottage. Now we have a "Book Room" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahJo Posted September 14, 2005 Share Posted September 14, 2005 What a great idea .. now I am just getting time to read agian ... I find any paperbacks, are read once ... then what . I saw a woman last week looking at a book I had just finished reading .. and was dying to tell her it was good, and she could have mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted September 14, 2005 Author Share Posted September 14, 2005 Sarah, I am one of those awfully bossy people who when she sees someone looking at a book she has loved, tells them they MUST buy it! I often wonder if they have bought it, & if they loved it as much as I did I have to make time to read. I am sure that I would go insane if I couldn't read for at least an hour a day. The warm weather helps........ & now I can say I am chicken-sitting when I am in the garden with my book too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 This sounds great! - I'm going hunting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cate in NZ Posted September 17, 2005 Share Posted September 17, 2005 Sounds like a great scheme, but I belong to the ranks of those who find it almost physically painfully to part company with a book I've enjoyed. Hubby finds it a bit tiresome, he'd happily read & dispose of books, not that he's much of a reader anyway I keep looking out for these "free" books, never seen one yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 I can't bear to part iwht books either, so I haven't joined in yet. But I just wanted to mention that you can also I believe send them on prearranged journies. Its not even that I want to keep rereading the books I keep, its that I can't bear the thought of my children wanting to read something, or me wanting them to read a book I enjoyed at their age, and it being out of print. I'm looking for a book by Helen Clare that I really enjoyed when I was my son's age, but now I can't find a copy for love nor money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 What was the book by Helen Clare called? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freerange Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 Merlin's Magic. It was about a group of children who go off on a treasure hunt set by Merlin. I borrowed it from the library, but they don't have it any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted September 27, 2005 Share Posted September 27, 2005 ooh, I'll keep my eyes open for that, you never know. I've not heard of it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popcorn Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 I've just finished The Lost Boy by David Pelzer, after reading The Boy Called It. Got A Man called Dave to go.....and can't wait to start it. Totally emotionally draining, but such a great, inspiring, uplifting, sad, upsetting, educational, eye-opening, thought provoking, life assessing read. What an amazing person, I'm in total awe of David Pelzer, and would like to give that man one big hug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted September 28, 2005 Author Share Posted September 28, 2005 I have always avoided his books,as they look at bit....well....Grim But maybe I should give them a go. Have you read "Toast" by Nigel Slater? Apparantly it is a similar sort of book (in era,age of subject etc) but a bit less harrowing. I really enjoyed it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 28, 2005 Share Posted September 28, 2005 I think my brother belongs to this book scheme. Or maybe it's another one like it. Apparently every time you register that you've left a book on a park bench or somewhere, the people running the site plant a new tree. So our paper resources are constantly refreshed in addition to books being read more than once. Brilliant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel (& Paul) Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 What a GREAT idea!!!! Can you get more info from your brother? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 29, 2005 Share Posted September 29, 2005 I'll ask him for more info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
