Wish List: I enjoy reading rock & roll, blues, ska, folk - in general...popular music bios. [For Xmas exchanges, etc: Bookcrossing supplies are always useful. I like tea and bookmarks too.] "Imagine all the people reading lots of books....." My original profile photo was taken May 2006 at Strawberry Fields, Central Park, NYC where I released a copy of Larry Kane's "Ticket to Ride", about his travels with The Beatles on their 1964 & 1965 North American tours. I'm still waiting for that Journal Entry but you never know.
My favourite books tend to be novels and biographies. Favourite novelists include Anita Shreve, Anita Brookner, Donna Morrissey, John Steinbeck, Nick Hornby and Roddy Doyle (but not all of Doyle's books). I enjoy Bill Bryson's books and over the past few years, have become a huge fan of the late Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks murder mysteries. I've read almost all of them. Music books: a bit of an obsession, but I find it's OK to read a novel at the same time as a music book. I could never read two novels at the same time! Music writers I admire include Charles Shaar Murray, Barney Hoskyns, Paul Myers, John Einarson and Rob Bowman. Paul, John and Rob are from Canada, but write about musicians from all over (i.e. Long John Baldry, Flying Burrito Brothers, The Barenakes Ladies, Stax Records).
....Jessibud, DonFiction (formerly Thyroidman) and Bookgirrl started up a new TORONTO OBCZ, March 2009 at Harbord House Pub (formerly Rowers Pub) 124 Harbord Street in downtown Toronto. The pub hosts poetry readings, offers Ontario craft beers and good food @ good prices. It is our official meetup/book swap spot and has a 3-tier OBCZ bookshelf. Up a flight of stairs, you'll find a lovely, tree-shaded patio. Proprietor: the friendly John Oakes.
In 2011, something serendipitous happened; the widow of the director of the Rare Book Collection at the University of Toronto, (who had no idea what Bookcrossing was) dropped by with a box of her late husband's books. Not rare books, but rather all kinds...mysteries, novels, cookbooks, travel books, etc. The books joined the OBCZ bookshelf after being registered. Great to see these books circulating - the karma is strong.
Activity:
January 2005: 'Found a dog-eared copy of "The Winter of our Discontent" while reaching up to grab a package of insulation at Home Depot. Talk about discontent! It was a bitter winter, and my pipes were about to freeze. The humorously themed book release tweaked my interest, and as soon as I read up on Bookcrossing, I was hooked! Even better...."The Winter of Our Discontent happens to be the first John Steinbeck book I ever read back in 1974.
May 2005 - Meetup in London, with UK BookCrossers at OBCZ Stamford Arms
Dec 2005 - "Bucklesbook" signs up (my Mom). Sadly, Mom passed away in July 2022, but many people remember her passion for Bookcrossing. We now have some BX'ing labels in her memory.
April 2006 - North American BC convention, Toronto
April 2008: London Convention. 'Great to meet BX'ers I had "met" online. In Birmingham, Lyzzybee introduced us to a charming city and Balti curry.
Feb 2009: Joined (somewhat reluctantly)....Facebook. Toronto Bookcrossers now has a FB page.
Sept 2009: 6th year at Word on the Street (WOTS) - Toronto's big book&magazine fair with Harrowsmith Magazine and Harrowsmith's Truly Canadian Almanac
April 2010: Amsterdam: BX'ing convention in Amstelveen (VU University Amsterdam.) Who could have predicted that whaddyacallit volcano? We were not affected as we arrived several days before the volcano. Getting home was another matter....
Sept 2010: 21st Annual Word on the Street. Pooker3, Geishabird, Pinkoeria, Jessibud, Miss Efficiency and iNomad met up at noon. We learned that releasing lots of books together gets results. We released about 55 on two park benches. Every one was snapped up. And we had more than the usual number of JE's. 3 of my "finders" joined BX'ing.
Summer 2011: Sadly, 35 year old Canadian classic, Harrowsmith Country Life magazine where I had worked since 1997, ceased publishing. All staff, including me - out of a job. (Revived in 2013 - hooray!)
Sept. 2011: Word on the Street - even more "wild releases" at Queen's Park. Miss-Efficiency suggested we bring a wheelbarrow!
April 2012: Splendid time at the Dublin Convention. Managed to see Canadian bands Enter the Haggis and Hey, Rosetta while on tour.
May 2012: Married DonFiction, wonderful, book reading/writing man and moved to the country. "Good-byyyyye city life!" (Eva Gabor from the 1960's TV sitcom, "Green Acres").
November 16, 2012: Meetup, Pickwick Pub, Zug, Switzerland, with storm0103 and 5kiana, Donfiction, nephew Spencer (age 12) - a real trooper who stayed for the whole evening (with a bunch of "oldsters"). Viva international BX'ers! Both of our "guests" travelled by train to meet with us.
To top off a great trip to Switzerland, we went to the Jungfraujoch (translation: The Top of Europe) and there we found a "wild", registered book at 11,000 feet. (The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier.)
June 2013: Meetup with Aussie BX'er, Flight at Harbord House Pub.
2014: Welcome Canadateagirl to the TO BX'ers, group. She is from British Columbia.
Sept. 2014: Another gorgeous Sunday for the 25th annual Word on the Street Festival in Toronto. A bench for kid's books, and a separate location for "grown-up" books.
Sept. 28, 2014: Meetup with Xarodoc, from Germany. Typical of BX'ing karma...3 out of 8 people (including our guest) brought a copy of "The Time Traveller's Wife".
2015: 5th year for meetups/OBCZ at Harbord House Pub. Thanks, John Oakes - proprietor. Also, we have two new BX'ers in our group. Fred and Livia. Fred found a book that had been sitting around Union Stn., (Toronto's big train station) for several years, and joined up. 3 cheers for Livia who came by our January meetup still holding her "Woman's March" placard.
June 2015: Meetup with Azuki (visiting from Miami) and her husband. HoserLauren, Nelle, Miss-Efficiency, Jessibud, Bucklesbook, Bookgirrl in attendance.
Sept. 2015: Word on the Street: a move to Harbourfront on Lake Ontario. We had a good time, and enjoyed standing "aside" and watching curious attendees ogle our "FREE BOOKS" collection. All were taken. Jessibud, Leester and Bookgirrl were there.
June 2016: Ri joined us while visiting Toronto from Cleveland. About 10 people came by Harbord House Pub. A fun, boisterous time!
April 2017: Oslo Convention. So many interesting things to see and do, on top of a terrific convention. Sight-seeing: Oslo, Bergen, Voss, fjords, and Flam. (Train, bus, boat)
May 7th, 2017: Shortly after seeing him in Oslo, we welcomed Xarodoc to our spring meetup/book swap/brunch. Some Oslo goodies will be shared.
July 2nd, 2017: Meetup with 3 guests from Maryland, USA, including intrepid BX'er SqueakyChu. 'So great to meet you!
August 23, 2017: Meetup for sota48, her sister and friend from Norway.
September 2017: Word on the Street. Harbourfront. A small but determined group this year did a mass book release, but for the first time, we were told we were not allowed to leave books on the site. We moved them to a bench by the TTC tracks. Every book was taken, and a good percentage were journalled.
April 2019: Marvellous Mainz Convention. I was solo, Donfiction had a new course to teach. Educational & entertaining trip. It's amazing how you feel like you are among old friends - even the people you meet for the first time at a convention. Unfortunately, I had to miss Sunday, (flight problems).
Fall 2019: Son-in-law Ian built us a Little Free Library - all wood - including roof shingles. Like a miniature cottage.
February 2020: Finally, someone took a book from our LFL - and they left us a nice note. On our country road, it's mostly pick-up trucks whizzing by. With spring coming, we'll hopefully see more walkers.
March 2020: Sad & scary times: COVID-19. No in-person meetups but there has been increased activity at our LFL, with people walking on our country road. And, books seem to be very popular these days overall.
August 2020: First outdoor meetup/book swap at Queen's Park. Six intrepid BX'ers showed up, and we enjoyed chatting and book swapping in the shade of huge trees. We all confessed to having felt cooped up.
November 2020: Another lockdown...time for a Zoom meetup.
April 16-18th, 2021: Virtual Bookcrossing Convention! Thanks to MissMarkey. Really fun.
May 5, 2021: Toronto BX'ers (Virtual) Spring Meetup: several international guests, a "Canada Quiz" and musical moment with Donfiction. Fun, but we are all looking forward to in-person meetups.
May 29th, 2022: First in-person, indoor meet-up since 2020. We welcomed Leester, visiting from Qatar.
July 31, 2022: Sadly, my Mom (Bucklesbook) an avid Bookcrosser died at age 94. In her memory, Jessibud had a BX'ing bookplate created. A photo of Mom reading "The Glass Castle" - a book we both loved. I have shared this label with other BX'ers.
Dec. 9, 2022: hotel booked for the Falkirk Convention. Instead of April, it will be held in June. With legendary rain in Scotland, I think June is a good choice. 'Really looking forward to it. Thanks to earthcaroleanne, poodlesister & the other organisers. (Yes! There will be a Canada Goody Bag for the raffle.)
June 16-18th, 2023: What a wonderful convention in Falkirk, held at Arnotdale House. 'Still feeling warm and fuzzy. 'Lots of fun before and after the official convention days.
2024: Bookcrossing Convention will finally be held in Finland after two other cancellations (Covid). 'Looking forward to it.
April 15, 2024: Flight leaves tomorrow for Finland. The convention officially runs Apr. 19-21st. I have packed: NSS stuff, RABCK's, Canada Goody Bag contents, Book Buffet books, 115 bookmarks and some other goodies. (Now to fit clothes in my suitcase.)
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I have deleted the "Books Read Since Joining Bookcrossing" list and more recently, The Rock & Roll list. (Update: The R&R book shelf has finally been completed! No more book piles. Thank you, Donfiction for a terrific 2021 Xmas gift.). If you want to see my Rock and Roll Library list, PM me.