Hey bookfolk, have you come across this? Idea is you mark books with an ID number that you get off this website, put the book somewhere public and wait for someone else to read it and enter their thoughts into the website too - you track where your book has gone and who has read it and where it ends up.
The fascination with an individual objects story is a bit like that film 'the red violin',I suppose it's a tangible link between us and other people, us and time? So maybe this is a fascinating aspect worth tracking via this site.
The notion of sharing strikes me as a nice one, encouraging people to read second hand books and to pass on things when they're done. Whether this is the most effective way to do this (as compared, for example, to simply handing over your old books to Vinnies or the local second hand book vendour)is maybe not so clear. There is a sense of thrill though in finding something for free, something that someone else has left for you - is huge, a a bit like a treasure discovered. I love places that have a 'book swap' bookshelf set up - like some backpackers, or a cafe in Springwood near my dentist, or the train station at Blaxland.It seems very trusting - that people will give and not just take books, that a self-serve system works, and for that reason, the gesture of trust in people's good nature, I like it even more.
So, if anyone gets into the Book Crossing thing, let me know, and maybe I'll give it a burl too.
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I've been in this for a few years now, but only two of my 'released' books have ever been picked up. Actually, three, because the third I left under a seat on a bus, and a guy behind me said 'excuse me, is that your book?' and I said no, and he put it in his bag. But he never registered with the site.
Not that many seem to get released in my local area either.
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