BookCrossing's The Reader Challenge and Contest

It's a given that BookCrossers love books, and love to set them free. And loads of BookCrossers love to answer the call of a BookCrossing Release Challenge, where books are released around a theme, event, book or whim of whomever is organizing the challenge. So what better than a challenge centered on reading? Why, a challenge centered on the award-winning book The Reader by Bernhard Schlink, and the recently released (and sure to win awards) movie The Reader, based on the book, of course! And a contest connected with the movie, too!

BookCrossing, in partnership with The Weinstein Company and Vintage Books (Random House) invites all BookCrossers to participate in this challenge and in the contest. Release as many books as you can that are themed around The Reader between January 1 and the 2009 Oscar Awards Ceremony (which take place in Los Angeles, California) on February 22. The more books you release, the better your chances to win one of the fabulous prizes that will be offered. Points will be awarded for each release, and extra points given for specific criteria, such as releasing a copy of the actual book or including a photo of your release. Any way you can make your release "themed" is fine: a play on the words in the the title, something about reading, book-to-movie tie-ins, May-December romances, Germany, WWII, lawyers, books on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Reader is Number 116 on the list) -- anything goes as long as you can justify your choice and reasons for calling a particular release "themed". There will also be at least one wild card winner for those who want to participate, but may not have tons of books to scatter in the wild for the challenge. In order for a release to count, it has to be posted in the thread in the Release Challenge forum during the dates of the challenge and has to include a reference to The Reader movie (which opens January in the U.S.) in the journal entry. We'll even supply the journal entry for you to use. Full details are available in our Release Challenges forum. Specifics can be found here.

To enter our The Reader contest, simply go see the movie, save your ticket stub, write your BookCrossing screen name* on the stub and send it to us at BookCrossing*. We will draw the winning names on February 22. The winner will be notified by BookCrossing Private Message. We've got some pretty fabulous prizes lined up, so what are you waiting for? Both the challenge and the contest are open to ALL BookCrossers, regardless of location. Join our The Reader challenge and see The Reader movie now! Two separate contests, two great chances to win! Prize packages for both contests include signed copies of The Reader or of books mentioned in the actual story, signed screenplay of the movie, soundtrack CDs, BookCrossing wings, and other prizes.

But wait! There's more! We're introducing a new forum called The Reader: Movie and Book for you to chat about The Reader, both book and movie, and will be giving away copies of the book as well (details to be posted in the forum.)


*Must be a BookCrossing member to be eligible. Only valid BookCrossing screen names are accepted. Entries must be postmarked by February 22, 2009 and sent to BookCrossing: The Reader Contest at 323 Pine Street, Sandpoint, ID 83864.