bookcrossing n.
the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
(added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in August 2004)
If you haven't clinked on my new favorite link, then please do so today! Commit Random Acts of Literacy at BookCrossing.com. The visionaries who started the site want no less than to turn the entire world into a library! I love it! Let's take over the world! Literary Geeks in Kansas and Thailand and everywhere in betweeen unite!
The idea is this: Read a book, label it and write a short journal about it, then set it free in the wilds. Someone comes along, captures it, reads and journals about it, then sets it free once again. The book's journey--where it goes and who reads it--can be followed online and readers can even email or meet, if they wish.
It is too much fun and whimsy to ignore.
Be warned that while registration is free, you do need to purchase materials to release your books (stickers, labels, etc.). But the basic package is less than $20. Just think of all the dusty books you have in piles and how they will thank you to be set free. If you love them, let them go!
Be warned that while registration is free, you do need to purchase materials to release your books (stickers, labels, etc.). But the basic package is less than $20. Just think of all the dusty books you have in piles and how they will thank you to be set free. If you love them, let them go!
So far I have set free two books: Snow in August and The Tipping Point. Here is the journal I wrote online at BookCrossing for The Tipping Point:
BookCrossing Journal
The Tipping Point
by Malcom Gladwell
by Malcom GladwellThere was BG and AG in my reading life. Before Gladwell, and after. Before Malcolm Gladwell I had no time for nonfiction. There were too many delicious novels out there. Now I can’t get enough of him. I devoured this book and then his next, Blink
If you are familiar with Gladwell's other books or essays, you know what to expect from The Tipping Point: smooth prose, intriguing stories and the endless reward of having good stuff to mull over.
It is Gladwell--not Sue Monk Kidd or Anita Diamant or, even, Dan Brown--that I find myself talking about. At dinner parties. At family reunions. On the metro. I even picked it for my traditionally fiction-only book club. They adored it.
Even if you are too busy for nonfiction, trust me. Take a bite.
You will sink your teeth into Gladwell’s compelling idea: “little changes can have big effects; when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or "tipping point" is reached, changing the world.” (From Publishers Weekly).
Isn’t this a PERFECT book for BookCrossing.com? See if you know what I mean after you have finished it!
For more Gladwell reading: Check out the follwoing website, where he has posted all of his New Yorker Essays: Gladwell.com
1 comment:
We're doing bookcrossing here at PHS, J...isn't it too cool? My students who are in my "Breakfast Club" book club will be releasing their selections into the wild. Tomorrow morning's meeting is to discuss "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. Hoping at least half of the kids will be willing to release their copies (that'd be about 10 copies). Looking forward to how the kids react to the idea.
Well, 2 days until "Wicked"--can't wait! Talk to you later,
T
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