Has anybody here ever heard of bookcrossing before? I read about it in an online newspaper article today.

For those who haven't the foggiest idea what I am talking about, this is how it basically works. You register the book you want to 'release into the wild'. The book is given an ID number, which you can write onto a label printed from the site. Pasted on the book, the label directs anyone who finds the book to the website to discover where it has been and who has read it. For more information, check this out .

I am wondering if any FoLC has had a bookcrossing experience.

--meclone2--

Bookcrossing is wonderful! My best friend and I discovered it awhile back and we love it. There is an official bookcrossing meeting spot at the coffee house down the street from her apartment and we love to go there and set books free or find new books.

Annie

The book I set free never got logged, and it's been months. I just hope it found a good home.

It's a really cool idea, though!

I had the same experience, Rivka. Mine were never logged so I can only hope someone found them and enjoyed them. It's a great idea, however. Maybe I'll try again and "release" them at a different location.

Just checking -- when you say "set a book free" does that mean you just leave it lying around in a public place? Interesting experiment.

PJ

Yes, with a bookcrossing bookmark/cover-label/inside-cover-label/all-of-the-above so people know to take it and where to go to log it.

Yes, basically. You can leave it anywhere you want - on a park bench, in a coffee shop, etc. But there are also official bookcrossing meeting places, where there are entire bookshelves of free books. They are sort of like mini-libraries, only no one is in charge of checking books in or out. They are also supposed to serve as places to meet up with other bookcrossing members. Sometimes people want to meet the others who have read their book or whatnot.

Annie

It sounds like "Where\'s George.com" which is the same thing with money. You register a dollar or five-dollar bill at the website and spend it as usual, then go back periodically to see where your money has gone. It's pretty cool to see where a bill was before and after you have it. You just have to write the website somewhere on the bill and hopefully others will go there out of curiosity.