December 2, 2005
[This occasional newsletter is sent to members of BookCrossing.com. See the bottom of this newsletter for simple removal instructions.]
Special Holiday Offer for People Who Want to Feel Smart
 Doubly good news for Bookcrossing fans! First, visit the mental_floss
home page at www.mentalfloss.com where you can learn about the quirky new
magazine that's winning rave reviews. While you're there, check out the
store, where you'll be eligible for a 15% discount on any purchase you
make between now and Monday December 5, (at checkout, just use the coupon
code: BOOKCROSSING). And here's a bonus: If you sign up for the
mental_floss e-mail newsletter between now and December 5, your name will
be entered in a special holiday drawing for one of 25 great prizes: five
copies of mental_floss's latest HarperCollins book, Forbidden Knowledge —
five copies of mental_floss: The Trivia Game — five copies of the new
Collins Gem book, Instant Knowledge — and ten of the truly hilarious
(and exclusive!) T-shirts. Lucky winners will be notified via e-mail the
week of Dec. 5. Good luck!
Send a Token of Your Love, Book Aid International Style
Our friends at Book Aid International are at it again, with a marvelous way to get books into the
hands of those without them. A book token is a wonderful gift, but this is a book token with a difference. You can give the gift of a token ‑ but people
in the developing world receive the books! All it takes is a donation to BAI to send books to the developing world in honour of the person of your choice.
Click here for details.
Sneak Preview of New Label With Your Holiday Order at the Store!
Don't forget to stop by the BookCrossing Supply Store for wonderful holiday gifts for the booklovers on
your list. Tee shirts,
release supplies,
bookstrings and fun things,
caps,
backpacks and totes — just right for holiday giving. And if you aren't sure what would be the perfect gift, try a
gift certificate or
Wings for a year. One size fits all! Now through December 15, get a
sneak preview pack of our not-yet-released new label! Yours free with a purchase of merchandise totalling over $100, or for a purchase of
Wings for a Year plus $75 dollars worth of store merchandise.
Creativity Corner: A BookCrossing Advent Calendar
 Clever BookCrossers are coming up with ways to mark the time until
they can celebrate Christmas: BookCrossing Advent Calendars. This is the second year that dotdot
of Helsinki, Finland, will be doing a BookCrossing Advent Calendar (click here to follow her progress.)
KatColorado in Z�rich, Switzerland has her 24 books picked out for release. Her calendar is
here. Nice-cup-of-tea, also
of Z�rich, has an Advent 2005 Release Challenge going, too! One tree, 24 books, how many catches
will she get? Even if Christmas is not the holiday you celebrate, it will be fun to see what books are revealed and released as the days of December tick by.
Calenders from previous years, brought to you by the very talented German BookCrossers, can be found
here. Ornament made by dotdot as part of the BookCrossing Ornament Exchange 2005.
BookCrossing Charms
available in the Supply Store.
BookCrossing and 364 Other Ways to Change the World
 On December 5, which is also International
Volunteer Day, a new book will hit the shelves, 365 Ways To Change the World, by British author Michael Norton, proposing some easy, fun, and
unique ways to start a movement for change. The December 11 entry involves leaving the book in public places to be picked up and read by others,
who then do likewise — anyone ever heard of that?! For more information on the book, click
here to read an article on Norton and his book in the
UK Guardian, which includes information on how to obtain the book, or you can click through to
one of our bookseller partners from our site, and support BookCrossing as you go! (ISBN 0954930916; Available via the International/UK branches
at this time.)
In The News
 We did hear BookCrossing mentioned in the
non-print media a bit recently, especially on BBC Radio Coventry, Guernsey and of course, ever faithful Shropshire. Our own
JimOnTheRadio, who has the distinction of being the most talked about DJ on BookCrossing, has faithfully continued with
BookCrossing Updates on BBC
Shropshire. That wild sound of applause you heard from the forum was for the hundreds of British pounds raised for the big UK fundraising
day for Children in Need. Listeners, including many online BookCrossers, pledged cold hard cash for the numbers of books (65!) released by
BookCrossers Mrs-FB and MrF-B
and the total number of steps recorded by pedometer (Almost 15,000!) that the two took whilst releasing.
Denver's
CBS4 is talking the talk now, too. With all the books wild released
there, it was just a matter of time! Be sure to click the video link on the right of the screen to see the clip!
FREE YOUR BOOKS!
"My name is Miriam, and I'm turning into a BookCrossing addict..."
by miriam2
In the past few months, I've developed a new obsession, and unlike endless games of Civilization or New York Times crossword puzzles,
this one isn't just fun, but can actually benefi
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2064]
GIRL SCOUTS HAVE HUGE SUCCESS IN SERVICE PROJECT
Help for Hurricane Victims: Reading for Relief Project
by picky88 and goldlis (picky88)
Last month we told you about our Girl Scout Service Project to help get books to hurricane survivors. Since then, donation numbers have exceeded 4500! Our
Gold Award project, "Reading for Relief," has shaped up to be an overwhelming success. With the help of the Internet, a San Antonio Express News article,
a KENS 5 news blurb, and the BookCrossing.com newsletter, over 4600 books have arrived from
nineteen states and two foreign countries (Canada and the United Kingdom), even the United States Department of the Interior sent us books!!...
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2074]
DOMINO-ATING DUNEDIN
by FutureCat
What do you do with 75 Reader's Digest Condensed Books? If you're a BookCrosser, then the answer is easy: "Release them!" But if you're lytteltonwitch,
you come up with something a lot more creative......
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2075]
WILD BOOKS FOR THE PICKIN�
Garden Festival release grows to Miracle-Grow� proportions
by Holly (kz4ufo)
Several months ago I planted a seed to BookCrossers about my plans to have a BookCrossing booth at the annual Garden Festival at Heathcote Botanical
Gardens in Fort Pierce, Florida. Well, that seed grew from a goal of three hundred books to an orchard of eight hundred books. And thus, the
Garden of Readin� booth was born....
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2077]
GERMAN SUPPORT SITE A WINNER!
Bookcrossers.de wins DBS Award for "The Better Page"
by Wyando (BCNewsletter)
 There was excitement in the forum as the on-air race began for the
finals in the DBS "The Better Page" award. The German BookCrossing support site, www.bookcrossers.de
has been in the competition, surviving several elimination rounds in a contest held by German-speaking Internet Radio
www.rmnradio.de....
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2086]
BOOK AID INTERNATIONAL'S REVERSE BOOK CLUB
The Ideal Gift for Booklovers this Christmas!
by BookAidInternational (BCNewsletter)
 Book Aid
International is at it again, with a marvelous way to get books into the hands of those without them. A book token is a wonderful gift,
but this is a book token with a difference. You can give the gift of a token ‑ but people in the developing world receive the books!
Just five easy steps!...
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2087]
CALL FOR WRITERS
Want to write for BookCrossing? If your article is accepted, you could see it featured here in the next newsletter. What topics do we need?
Anything about books, reading, or BookCrossing — tutorials, release and catch stories, well-traveled book stories, funny BookCrossing
experience stories — you get the idea. Write it up, then submit it here:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/submit
Top 10 Countries All-Time
| USA |  192,542 (46%) |
| UNITED KINGDOM | 39,636 (9%) |
| CANADA | 30,392 (7%) |
| GERMANY | 27,823 (7%) |
| SPAIN | 19,499 (5%) |
| AUSTRALIA | 18,955 (4%) |
| ITALY | 14,118 (3%) |
| FRANCE | 7,630 (2%) |
| PORTUGAL | 5,996 (1%) |
| NETHERLANDS | 5,986 (1%) |
Top 10 Countries Last Week
| USA | 554 (34%) |
| UNITED KINGDOM | 193 (12%) |
| GERMANY | 121 (7%) |
| CANADA | 102 (6%) |
| FRANCE | 95 (6%) |
| SPAIN | 63 (4%) |
| AUSTRALIA | 62 (4%) |
| FINLAND | 41 (3%) |
| NEW ZEALAND | 32 (2%) |
| ITALY | 29 (2%) |
Wild books released by our members are being caught all over the world, every day! Our site watch
forum is where members post news of great wild book catches.
Here are some of the best from the last few days...
I love this guy, and I've never met him....
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3456896
Never mind the hundreds and hundreds of books I never
hear from again- - every once in awhile one of these comes along!
by kestralwing
Survivor finds book !
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3311715
by MaryZee
I'm happy with this wild release and catch, from SC to MD to MA....
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3214550 You never know when you'll hear from
a book just out of the blue.
by kiptrix
Serendipitous catch?
I mentioned Bookcrossing to a friend, oh, ages ago, who was mildly interested but not, say, excited by the concept... Then I get an email from a
now very excited friend- he'd found a BookCrossing book! In the wild! *Sigh* So jealous- I've been a member for 3 years and not a single
un-hunted-for wild find... Read all about it here:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3474512
by Koalabare
My book found some displaced Katrina folks
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3269777
by dancing-dog
Helps with a romantic date
I loved the entry on this book,bookcrossing is now a matchmaking site
http://bookcrossing.com/---/2090058
by lytteltonwitch
"A very lonely book sitting on a park bench" is picked up by a bike rider
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3338941
by yvensong
My first catch!
I released my fourth book this afternoon, and someone journaled it right away! And they joined, too! I was so excited when I looked at my profile
and saw that I had a catch, that I nearly jumped out of my chair.
The-Other-Woman-Emmanuele--Bernheim,-Shaun--Whiteside
by scriptophobia
Released any books yet?
So have you released any books yet? Hope so,
Josh
by wackthedrums100
Words and music, what a great catch
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/2467575 This caught my attention on the side panel as
it was a book I'd really enjoyed a while back. Nice catch for book and music lovers alike!
by inkognitoh
Wonder how this one got from SF to NY ...?
http://bookcrossing.com/---/1477155
by countedx58
I just love that when it happens! And am extremely jealous of it too!
I was looking at this book for a good many minutes in the Recently Released books and now I spotted it at the Recently Caught! And it's not been given
to a friend or relative! It's beeen actually caught in the wild by a person who joined! Isn't it lovely? And just plain outrageously lucky at the same
time? :o) http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3453525
by apapsa
From UK to China!
Really pleased with this one! Lucky book! http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/2798576
by Anne-Elliott
Once again, the right person found this book...
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3446183
by kiptrix
You REALLY never know where your books will end up....
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3083095
by LoveTeaAndBooks
SSM 30 December 4, 2005: Celebrating Children
If you missed SSM 30 on November 27; don't feel badly — we did too! Our hardworking team got the information on the site in time,
but it missed our last Newsletter. Because we think it was a great idea, sent in by great BookCrossers, we voted for a repeat of the
event this coming Sunday December 4. (Don't worry, we're still planning an end-of-the-year SSM!)
To refresh your memory, as holidays approach, SSM30 celebrates one of the greatest gifts of all — children. So grab a book geared to
or about children that celebrates what is special to you. Maybe it's a childhood favorite or a new classic like The Polar Express.
If it's holiday-themed, so much the better. Leave your book where you think a child is likely to find it, or perhaps a place where an
adult will find it and read it with a child. Maybe a public playground or a park. (And if you should want to release on Saturday so
that there's more chance that a child will find it, it's OK by us!) This idea was sent in by
eireannaigh, who received wings for the month. Similar ideas were also
submitted by abismithy,
katiesmama, dolphingirlie
and turbobarge, who also received wings for their contributions. If
you need a hint to help you know what to do for the SSM, click
here.
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http://www.bookcrossing.com/newsletterarchive.
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