March 1, 2006
[This occasional newsletter is sent to members of BookCrossing.com. See the bottom of this newsletter for simple removal instructions.]
Tying up some loose ends
Congratulations to the Kiwis and their guests on a fabulous convention. Details can be found in lots of places, but a good place to check is the Conventions and Meetings Forum, until one of them recovers enough to write us an article on the events! And a huge congratulations to BookAid International on the success of their auction. The Hannah Firmin print went for 1,100 GBP which is about 1,900 USD. (The proceeds from that portion of the auction will be split with BookCrossing.) The event raised 63,000 GBP which is absolutely brilliant. It will enable BAI to send nearly 50,000 books to the developing world. Well done, you!
In The News
 Hold on to your hats, folks, there's a lot of BookCrossing Press around the world. For starters, this spring, the The Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College again will partner with BookCrossing to distribute free copies of Arthur Phillips' The Egyptologist as the spring selection for its One Book, One Community program. Read about it here. Penn State folks got a chance to read about one of our Fabulous OBCZs, SCOBCZ, run by the equally fabulous lyekkamarengo in The Collegian. Lyekkamarengo was also recently featured in a National Public Radio spot talking about BookCrossing. Keeping with radio stories, the French radio station France Inter also featured the site. Readers of the News Tribune were advised to Release a book into the wild and hope there�s a catch "Welcome to the sneaky, exhilarating, wacky world of BookCrossing." Member deborahj is the the "friend from Olympia"
referenced in the article (and the book on Dizzy was hers!) The Miami Herald also advocated BookCrossing as a help for bargain-hunting bookworms. Spike1972 in Wales, also tipped us off to a mention in Woman Magazine that his mum told him about. It's not online but the article is in the Feb 20, 2006 issue page 5, on the "& Things To Do This Week" bit. Fayetteville, North Carolina readers were advised, "
If you love your books. .. set them free" and Kansas State University readers also heard the word. South Africa's Mail and Guardian tells of the reporter's experience with BookCrossing and mentions member GILD. Finally, an article on Freedom to Read Week, Feb. 26 through March 3, an annual event that encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, mentioned us, as well. A great tie-in with the upcoming World Book Day, eh?
Reader's Challenge Australian Style
Leave it to our Aussie BookCrossers to pair their reading with a great cause. Quite a few of those amazing Australian BookCrossers are participating
in the Australian Readers� Challenge. It's a project designed to encourage people to read in order to raise funds to promote Indigenous literacy. The goal is to read 10 books over six months (1 March — 1 September) with seven of those books to come from specified reading lists.
So Many Books. So Little Time--The Race to Three Million
 Anyone who has been around BookCrossing any time at all knows that a number of BookCrossers like to see those "members" and "books registered" numbers up in the right corner of the screen turn, turn, turn. We've watched the race to one million books registered and two million books registered with great glee. And now, the gauntlet has been thrown down. The Race to Three Million is on! Click on over and join in the fun. Solittletime is hosting the race, and has posted clear rules. She's even offering prizes! So grab your books (and books only!) and your keyboard and start registering! (and don't forget to stop by the Supply Store for all your release supply goodies!
Carteret County�s Courageous One Read Program
 Carteret County is awash in copies of Rudyard Kipling's Captains Courageous. The reason? Carteret County Public Library is sponsoring a One Book, One Community reading program during the month of March 2006. One hundred copies of the book have been registered on the library's BookCrossing shelf and will be released as part of the project. Journal entries will become part of the official record of the �Carteret County Reads Together� event. Even if you don't live in Beaufort, NC, why not pick up this great book and read along?
THE ITALIAN NIMEL DAY
Books and food make you feel good!!
by lizzyblack
 It�s an early Sunday morning when I wake up. The snow of the last days is still on the ground, but luckily the roads are clean, so we won�t have any problem. We can�t miss this day, as today is the BookCrossing Nimel Day!...
We drive from Como to Bogolese di Sorbolo (Parma) quietly, and it takes 2 hours get there. For me it�s quite strange to go to this Nimel Day, I�m going to meet loads of people I�ve been chatting with only in the Italian Forum, and I guess I�ll be a little confused at first.
[read it all at 2185]
REAL-TIME RELEASE NOTES
How to let everyone know the moment you release...
by skoopmanschap (skoopmanschap)
Don't you sometimes get annoyed at the fact that when you release a book, you have to wait until you get home before you can actually announce the release? Or that you announce a release before you leave home, and when you get to the point where you planned your release, something comes up and you can't release the book where you announced it? Or, looking from the hunter's side: you get a release alert for a location just around the corner, but it is a release note for a release done hours earlier, and the book is not there anymore? I'm sure this is not a new idea, but it's new to me: real-time release notes, thanks to GPRS, your mobile phone, and Opera Mini....
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2193]
I CAUGHT A BOOK!
At least, I think I caught a wild book...
by WistfulDragon
I thought I'd stick labels in a couple of the books I got from
freecycle (a website where you offer up things you don't want and arrange for someone who does want them to come and collect) preparatory to registering them, and saw what looked suspiciously like a BookCrossing ID (BCID) number in one, although with no sign that it was actually a BCID number. So I tried to journal it - and found it was the number for a pre-numbered label belonging to CarrotTop in Indiana!...
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2196]
10 PLACES NOT TO RELEASE A BOOK
Just Plain Bad Ideas!
by pigsooie
After releasing a book today, I was driving home thinking of the good deed I had done. Shortly thereafter I thought of all of the good & bad places books could be released. I decided that plenty of people have written about good places to release, but no bad ones. So, here's to all the bad release sites!...
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2200]
BOATERS FOR BOOKS AND BOOKCROSSING
A Perfect Match
by gypsysmom
Last year Charbono's Around the World Challenge caught my eye, and I thought sending books to every country in the world sounded like a worthwhile objective. After successfully sending books to BookCrosser thinkbolt in Antigua and Barbuda, I thought it would be easy to send more books to the Caribbean. I signed up to send books to St. Vincent because I once met a very kind man from there. However, no matter how many BookCrossers in St. Vincent I sent Private Messages, I never got a reply....
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2204]
GET THE WHOLE TOWN READING
Great local newspaper runs an inspiring article
by Readingjunky
After reading about BookCrossing on another website, I decided to check it out. Boy, I'm glad I did!
It looked like a "friendly" place, so I took a chance and told my 8th grade students about it. I shared that I was planning to release a book at a nearby mall and suggested they might want to check out the website. By that evening there were 4 students registered. I had fun putting them on my friends' list and sending them private messages....
[read it all at http://www.bookcrossing.com/articles/2206]
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 |  200,819 (45%) |
| UNITED KINGDOM | 42,512 (10%) |
| CANADA | 31,590 (7%) |
| GERMANY | 29,406 (7%) |
| SPAIN | 22,587 (5%) |
| AUSTRALIA | 20,048 (4%) |
| ITALY | 14,618 (3%) |
| FRANCE | 8,702 (2%) |
| NETHERLANDS | 6,455 (1%) |
| PORTUGAL | 6,247 (1%) |
Top 10 Countries Last Week
| USA | 935 (45%) |
| UNITED KINGDOM | 276 (13%) |
| GERMANY | 150 (7%) |
| CANADA | 92 (4%) |
| AUSTRALIA | 77 (4%) |
| FRANCE | 73 (3%) |
| SWEDEN | 61 (3%) |
| ITALY | 47 (2%) |
| NETHERLANDS | 45 (2%) |
| SPAIN | 43 (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...
 Book caught after 2 years
http://bookcrossing.com/---/842890
I got this journal alert and couldn't even remember which doctor's office I had left it in! Upon opening the journal, I figured out why. I had left it 2 years ago! Apparently it has moved around too. I left it in a waiting room in a St. Charles doctor's office but it was caught in the exam room of a doctor's office apparently in St. Peters (next town over). I am not sure if the nurse is just from St. Peters or if the book was in St. Peters when she caught it. We have plenty of medical centers in both towns.
by nyisutter
Ping has travelled from NZ to China
and is being used to teach English
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3464446
by boreal
Right book, right place..
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/2641172
by Trekwoman
Journey from Norway to Thailand!
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3141135
by Katti
I saw it and thought...
Aww! what a great journal entry! :D
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3651037
*feeling proud*
by day-zee
Smiling in the oncology department:
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3100879 A very nice catch for varykino!
by mojosmom
Sat on an OBCZ shelf for a year, and then...
http://bookcrossing.com/---/2584361
by bookczuk
Perhaps it still has 8 lives
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3526431 LOL
by MaryZee
My children's old book was caught by an entire class!
We were going to one of our favorite parks with a Winter Garden (like park greenhouses for the public). I often release books there, and quite often they are books I think my kids don't really use anymore. When I turned on my computer this afternoon, this journal entry was waiting for me (BCID 3715088): Tuesday, February 21, 2006 We found this book beside McPuddock at the Winter Gardens. We are class 9
of Hazlewood Special Needs School. The children loved the book. The book
will be placed in the coffee shop of the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh. CAUGHT IN ABERDEEN ABERDEENSHIRE SCOTLAND By AnonymousFinder from n/a, n/a n/a
Book Rating: 8 out of 10
A whole class has enjoyed this book that my children had had fun with! And they are going to wild release it in another city, too!! I'm so happy.
by ScottishHoosier
This book has travelled more than I have
http://bookcrossing.com/---/2012872
It started in Maryland, then went to Florida, then came to me in Winnipeg. I took it to Thunder Bay, Ontario when I went on a business trip but brought it back to Winnipeg. A month ago I released it at the Grant Park Shopping Centre when no-one at our local meet-up wanted it. Tonight it gets journalled but it was found in Las Vegas, Nevada. I guess I'll never know who took it to Las Vegas with them but it sure makes for an interesting story.
by gypsysmom
My first new office building catch!
I have left several books since starting in this building last week...finally a catch!
http://bookcrossing.com/---/3300068
by BoosterJ28
OBCZ book entertaining British troups in Afghanistan!
I love this journal entry- one of my best OBCZ catches!entries at http://bookcrossing.com/---/3322298 anytime. Book Title: Monstrous Regiment
Author: Terry Pratchett
Sunday, February 19, 2006 As a British soldier working with the US on Operation Enduring Freedom Nov
2005. The book came from a friend in the UK. It will go into the library
to be used by other nations as part of NATO. We shall see where it ends! CAUGHT IN KANDAHAR AIRFIELD KANDAHAR AFGHANISTAN
by weebly
Amazing Journal Entry
I just have to draw attention to this amazing JE on a book which my dog, HonoraryBCDog, released recently: http://bookcrossing.com/---/3581293
by Jalna
Come and see my Valentine release pics!
I set thirteen books free today. I used a special label in addition to my usual ones. Here are the pictures:
http://photobucket.com/---/?
by Moem
Free book nets finder $100!
http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/3629301
by mojosmom
SSM 33: Make the Whole World a Library Feb 24 - March 5
 March 2, 2006, is World Book Day in the UK. We couldn't agree more that books deserve their own day. In fact, we think they deserve several days, and so we are extending this SSM well beyond the boundaries of Saturday and Sunday. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is this: between now and March 5, go out and make the world a library! Books about the world, about books, released at locations that fit with the theme of world and books all count. Be creative! If you want to focus on one specific day, try for March 2. If you can't make it this time round, never fear! April will bring us UNESCO's Book celebration and the utterly romantic Day of the Book and the Rose, both on April 23. Our World Book Day SSM suggestion was sent in by a BookCrosser who wishes to remain anonymous, but has gifted the wings granted for the idea to BOOKWORMINUSALL, for whom "33" has special significance. If you need a hint to help you know what to do for the SSM, click here. And be sure to pop on over to the SSM Forum to post what you release and your results. The link to SSM 33 is here.
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