Silent BookCrossers
The wild releases we never find out about
by MyopicMeringueJuly 22, 2004
I was chatting on the phone to my younger sister this morning. My sister doesn't read, except for the occasional 'fluffy' novel when she's on holiday. I decided to tell her about BookCrossing, fully expecting her to see it as further proof of the geekiness
of her big sister.
'I joined a website called BookCrossing,' I said. And out of curiosity, I added, 'What would you think a website called BookCrossing would be about?'
'Sharing books?' she said.
'Yes,' I said, surprised because I hadn't caught on so quickly when I first heard of it. 'You can swap books with people from different countries, and also...'
'Wait!' she said 'I think I know what it is.' I was very dubious about this, but she continued: 'Is it where you read a book, then you stick a label in it, saying your name and where you were when you read it, and you give it a number that you get from a website, and you leave it somewhere for someone to find?'
My jaw hung open. 'Umm ... yes.'
'I'll tell you how I know that,' she said. 'When I was in holiday in Tenerife a couple of months ago, I found a book with a label in it.'
'Really??' I was amazed. How on earth had my non-book-loving sister found a BookCrossing book when I never had?
'I thought it was a really nice idea,' she said. 'It's cool to find a book and know that it's been travelling around the world.'
'Did you go on the website and make a journal entry?' was of course my next question.
'No, because I finished reading it and I left it there for someone else to find.'
'But you could have written down the number and gone online and made an entry when you got home!' I protested, scandalised that someone could have found a BookCrossing book, read it, loved the idea, and yet *not* written a journal entry!
'Yes, I was going to, but I forgot.'
'Do you remember the name of the book?'
'Yes, it was Sex and the City, by Candace Bushnell, and the label said it was first left in a charity shop in Wokingham.'
'Oh!' said I, excited. 'In that case, I can look it up and find the person and tell them you found it.'
My sister was just as excited by this prospect as I was, and asked me to do it at once and tell her. So I did a search, found the book, and was taken aback that there was only one journaler for it. The last journal entry said that it was left in the charity shop. Nothing from the person who bought the book and left it in Tenerife at all.
It suddenly occurred to me that there must be many, many silent BookCrossers out there. People who find a BookCrossing book, love the idea, read it, and leave it for someone else to find, without ever making a journal entry. And somehow I liked this idea - that the books I release could be passing through the hands of many people, and travelling to all kinds of places, while I know absolutely nothing about it. Of course, it's great when someone writes a journal entry, but it's also exciting to know that all kinds of unacknowledged BookCrossing is happening as well. At the end of the day, books are being releaseed and that's the main purpose of BookCrossing.
I PMed the person who registered 'Sex in the City' to tell her of the travels of her book. And my sister, thrilled that I'd found the person who'd released it, assured me that if she ever found a BookCrossing book again, she would definitely make a note of the BCID number and make a journal entry!
'I joined a website called BookCrossing,' I said. And out of curiosity, I added, 'What would you think a website called BookCrossing would be about?'
'Sharing books?' she said.
'Yes,' I said, surprised because I hadn't caught on so quickly when I first heard of it. 'You can swap books with people from different countries, and also...'
'Wait!' she said 'I think I know what it is.' I was very dubious about this, but she continued: 'Is it where you read a book, then you stick a label in it, saying your name and where you were when you read it, and you give it a number that you get from a website, and you leave it somewhere for someone to find?'
My jaw hung open. 'Umm ... yes.'
'I'll tell you how I know that,' she said. 'When I was in holiday in Tenerife a couple of months ago, I found a book with a label in it.'
'Really??' I was amazed. How on earth had my non-book-loving sister found a BookCrossing book when I never had?
'I thought it was a really nice idea,' she said. 'It's cool to find a book and know that it's been travelling around the world.'
'Did you go on the website and make a journal entry?' was of course my next question.
'No, because I finished reading it and I left it there for someone else to find.'
'But you could have written down the number and gone online and made an entry when you got home!' I protested, scandalised that someone could have found a BookCrossing book, read it, loved the idea, and yet *not* written a journal entry!
'Yes, I was going to, but I forgot.'
'Do you remember the name of the book?'
'Yes, it was Sex and the City, by Candace Bushnell, and the label said it was first left in a charity shop in Wokingham.'
'Oh!' said I, excited. 'In that case, I can look it up and find the person and tell them you found it.'
My sister was just as excited by this prospect as I was, and asked me to do it at once and tell her. So I did a search, found the book, and was taken aback that there was only one journaler for it. The last journal entry said that it was left in the charity shop. Nothing from the person who bought the book and left it in Tenerife at all.
It suddenly occurred to me that there must be many, many silent BookCrossers out there. People who find a BookCrossing book, love the idea, read it, and leave it for someone else to find, without ever making a journal entry. And somehow I liked this idea - that the books I release could be passing through the hands of many people, and travelling to all kinds of places, while I know absolutely nothing about it. Of course, it's great when someone writes a journal entry, but it's also exciting to know that all kinds of unacknowledged BookCrossing is happening as well. At the end of the day, books are being releaseed and that's the main purpose of BookCrossing.
I PMed the person who registered 'Sex in the City' to tell her of the travels of her book. And my sister, thrilled that I'd found the person who'd released it, assured me that if she ever found a BookCrossing book again, she would definitely make a note of the BCID number and make a journal entry!
