Yes, I felt the same way when I found the book that introduced me to BC. I am not a romance reader, and I found a Danielle Steel novel. I had no interest in the book whatsoever, but the idea, on the other hand... :)
Released statesman Lincoln Alexander's autobiography at Alexander Hall, a University of Guelph building named in his honour. Release was done on 21 January, which is Lincoln Alexander Day in Canada. (photo-- book is on the corner of the bench near the sign, it's a bit hard to see in the picture)
Obadiah Comes Fourteen ( https://www.bookcrossing.com/---/14813407/ ), a book set in my area in pre-Revolutionary times, released at a local burying ground from the same era - the burying ground was even referenced in the book!
I think this would count as a themed release... Tonight I bookcrossed a book from the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series called The Third Planet From Altair. I left it in a book exchange area at a games cafe called The Adventurers Guild. I thought it was fitting as the book itself is a sort of game, and the name of the establishment fits with the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure series.
There are several books in the photo, but mine is the one that is a little out of place-- propped on the ledge at the right side of the fireplace rather than on the mantle used as a bookshelf or in one of the piles on the hearth. http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/14021126
I like my releases to have a theme, I do it that way whenever possible, but I didn't count my last one as it's only themed in a personal way (I left "Tales from the Secret Annex" in a LFL across from the backstage entrance to the theatre where I played Anne Frank... but our Secret Annex has been gone from that theatre for a few years and only exists in our memories and photos now). I did another one today that I think will count for this, as the theme is more concrete/apparent.
Today, in the middle of the 2018 Winter Olympics, I left "Ice Hockey and Curling (Winter Olympic Sports)" at a Curling Club in a nearby town (my grandpa's old club). The book is geared to kids, but it's Family Day here and there were a lot of kids at the club trying out the sport, so I'm hoping one of them will take the book home :) To make the release even more apropos, they were showing Olympic hockey on the TV in the curling club lounge, lol :)
I got a JE on this release yesterday. The finder joined, and their profile tells me they're from Woodstock, which is about 35km on the other side of the place where I left the book. They're planning to pass the book along to their grandson who plays hockey and curls.
Released in the "DOG waiting room" at the animal hospital:
22 - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/14741127/ Chicken Soup for the Cat & DOG Lover's Soul: Celebrating Pets as Family with Stories About Cats, DOGS and Other Critters
I released another book at a cinema this afternoon-- A Wrinkle in Time left at a cineplex showing the new film version of the story. I left it sitting on a counter next to a large poster for the movie. There were lots of kids about as it's March Break here (a week off school in the middle of March) and the book had been taken by the time I left the multiplex after the movie. No JE yet, but I'm hoping... and if not, hopefully it's found a new reader anyway!
13. Bat Boy - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/14930336 Released at the baseball stadium during a game, even though I bungled the release notes; with release photo.
16. Door of No Return - http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/14980071 Book about one of the departure points for slaves being sent to America released next to a statue of a successful and influential African American.
Recently, I released a book in a tiny little place called Kippen, Ontario. The book was set in Kippen and was about the family who ran the Kippen post office in the early 1900s. I was planning to leave the book at that post office, but when I got there it did not have a Canada Post sign anymore and seemed to be in private hands now. Instead, I kept with the postal theme and released the book in an area across the street from the old post office where there is a bank of PO boxes which seem to be the place where Kippen residents send/receive their mail these days.
As the PO Boxes themselves did not have a practical location for releasing a book (there are no publicly accissible parts and the tops were too high for me to reach), I left the book in a community newspaper box nestled amongst the PO Boxes. The old post office itself is visible in the background of the release photo-- it's the building with the green roof.
I have a hard time determining which releases are themed enough to count, so if I am off and something really doesn't belong here, I'm sorry!
On the night of the Paralympic hockey final, I released a children's book about paralympic sports (specifically hockey and alpine skiing). I released it in Wallacetown, which is a tiny hamlet near the town where my husband grew up. Wallacetown is the hometown of the youngest member of Canada's 2018 paralympic team, hockey player 17-year-old James Dunn. I left the book at a little cafe that had Dunn's autographed hockey card on display above the cash register.
One Gallant Rush ( https://www.bookcrossing.com/---/14564463 ), wild release, themed, photo. [It's about Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and I left it near the Saint-Gaudens memorial to Shaw and his men.]
Released at Woomera, SA. Woomera Village initially operated as a "closed town" between 1947 and 1982, when the facility supported the operations of the Woomera Rocket Range during the Anglo-Australia Project. Ordinary people couldn't get access. So I thought this was a good fit to leave 'Area 7' here. As well as the display area where I left the book, driving around the town I saw several rockets decorating the place. There was even a dumped rocket with other rubbish. Not something seen every day :)
The story is really not themed with the release location for this one, but the title is. I left a copy of Wuthering Heights very high up on a rugged and windswept outcrop of the Niagara Escarpment called the Lion's Head Lookout.
All released for World Blood Donor Day. The first 13 were also released at the American Red Cross Blood Donor Center. The 14th was a duplicate so I released it elsewhere.
Tonight I released Deborah Ellis's "The Breadwinner"-- about a young girl growing up in Afghanistan under the Taliban-- at an Afghanistan War memorial. I thought it was a fitting reminder of why our soldiers were there/what they aimed to improve by ousting the Taliban.
I released a book of biographies called Famous Dead Canadians 2, and chose one of the featured people around whom to theme my release.
I picked Emily Stowe, the first female physician to practice in Canada and an early activists for women's rights around here. She was born and raised about 45 minutes' drive from my city, so I visited her little town and released the book on a bench outside of their local Museum and Archives. It's not visible because of angles in the photo, but in the same yard outside of the museum and archives there is a Government of Ontario historical plaque dedicated to Emily Stowe.
Again, I released a book of short biographies and chose one of the featured people around whom to theme my release. This time, the book was "Canadian Inventors" and I chose Rachel Zimmerman. She was born and raised about an hour away from here in the city of London, ON and she began her career as an inventor at the age of 11. I left this book at St. George's Public School, the school she was attending when she got her start.
I released a book that had sort of an over-arching theme and a slightly more specific theme.
I left the book "150 Years of Canada: Year-by-Year Fascinating Facts" at a place called Prime Ministers Path-- a garden dedicated to preserving the history of our political leaders from Confederation on (which, to this point, is the title '150 Years') with a statue of each one. For the more specific theme, I left the book in the hand of the newest statue, Kim Campbell. She is specifically mentioned in the Fascinating Facts as she was Canada's first female PM. The date was also a bit of a theme, as I released the book on the day before Canada turned 151.
It seems I have neglected to update this, but this book was journalled by an AF right away. They said they planned to take it travelling with them, and recently it checked in again from Tennessee USA.
On Canada Day (July 1), I released a book written by a woman who came to Canada as a refugee. I left it at a restaurant dedicated to bringing together and showcasing flavours and foods from around the world. I thought it was especially fitting because the book I left was called "The Bite of the Mango," so it had a foody connection as well.
I released a book called "The Dream Catcher Pool," which is about a grandmotherly First Nations woman who enlists the help of a few young boys to build a reflecting pool for her dream catcher. In the process, she teaches them a bit of their own culture-- the legend of the Dream Catcher.
For this book's release location, I chose a place called Crawford Lake Conservation Area. CLCA is home to a meromictic lake, renowned for its reflective quality, as well as a reconstructed First Nations village-- so I thought it was a good fit for "The Dream Catcher Pool" I left the book by the shore of the lake.
This was caught a little while ago. The finder didn't seem particularly impressed, but it's a kids' book and it sounds like it wasn't their kid's type of storybook. To each his own. Hopefully they'll pass it on and it will eventually make its way to someone who enjoys it more :)
I left a book on a bench near the office of a small town newspaper called the Shelburne Free Press. There are a few connections for this book and the Free Press. First, it was written by a man from the area who was, at one time, Editor of the Shelburne Free Press. Second, the book was originally published as a serial in the Free Press. Third, the book itself is a series of fictional letters to the editor of the Shelburne Free Press.
I released a book called "Follow the Drinking Gourd" (about American slaves escaping to Canada via The Underground Railroad) in a park in a small town called Glen Allan, ON. Glen Allan was at one time on the edge of a region known as the Queen's Bush which was settled largely by American slaves who had escaped to Canada via the Underground Railroad. There is a Government of Ontario historical plaque in the park about the Queen's Bush, and that's where I left the book.
This book was journalled by an AF recently. They didn't say where they found it so I don't know if it travelled in between or not, but now it's in a small town a couple of hours northeast of the place where I left it.
I had a kids' book called "Slip the Otter Finds a Home," and I thought a good place for Slip to look for her next home would be in the small town of Otterville. I left the book in a park called Otterville Park, which has a swimming pool, baseball diamond, play structure, and more. I left it at the bottom of a ramp leading to the swimming pool, across from the baseball diamond, along a path that leads to the play structure.
I released a book about Ukrainian immigration and the early days of the Ukrainian community in Western Canada, and I left it at a Ukrainian Cultural Centre
I released a book called "Canada Under Siege," which is about the War of 1812. I left it in a park called Battlefield Park, where the Battle of Stoney Creek (part of the War of 1812) was fought.
I did a naval themed release on Saturday (I did several themed releases on Saturday)! I left "Unsung Heroes of the Royal Canadian Navy: Incredible Tales of Courage and Daring During WWII" at the HMCS Haida National Historic Site. HMCS Haida features in more than one story in this book, so I thought this was a logical release spot.
Haida is a World War Two destroyer that is moored in my husband's original hometown of Hamilton, ON. The area where she's moored is the HMCS Haida National Historic Site. There is a small museum and gift shop, there are info boards and various armaments displayed near the ship, and she's open to the public for tours. We didn't go aboard the ship this time, but I left my book suspended from a mine that is displayed in front of the ship, and someone caught it!
If you ever come to southern Ontario, Canada-- or if you have in the last 20 years-- and you visit the Niagara region, if you drive into/out of the region on the Queen Elizabeth Way (the main highway leading to/from Niagara), you might notice what looks like a ghostly pirate ship at the edge of the lake alongside the highway-- and I left a book there!
It's not a real pirate ship, of course. It's not even a fake pirate ship, but everyone calls it The Pirate Ship. It was originally a ferry on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, then it became a cargo ship. After that it had a makeover and name change to turn it into a replica of one of Jacques Cartier's (1491-1557) ships to become a restaurant. Eventually (in the 1990s) its owners moved it to Ontario and abandoned it in Lake Ontario by the side of the highway. After a few years of sitting there it was gutted by fire... and its remains have been there, looking like a ghostly pirate ship, since then. Nowadays you can get pretty close to it via a small trail from a parking lot for some businesses (a hotel, a restaurant...) and someone has put up a sign bearing the ship's name, La Grande Hermine. I left my book on the sign, propped up between the 'L' and the 'a.' The book was "Pirates and Privateers: Swashbuckling Stories from the East Coast." It was caught too, and is now on its way out to the prairies!
I released a children's book at a carousel. The book was called "There Are No Polar Bears Here!" and the carousel is one of only a few antique, hand-carved carousels in Canada. It features various other animals in addition to horses... but no polar bears!
The Hudson's Bay Company-- HBC-- was pretty important to the establishment/settlement/early days of Canada, because of the fur trade. It's a sort of iconicly Canadian thing. I left a book about those early days ("Hudson's Bay Company Adventures: The Rollicking Saga of Canada's Fur Traders") outside of an HBC store at a big mall called The Pen Centre, in a stand with the current HBC flyers.
I got sort of a weird JE on this today. The JE itself is very short, but not weird... what's weird is that it was posted 4 times by the same finder, but with a different town in the Niagara region as the place for each entry. I don't know what's happening there. But anyway.... here's the link: http://www.bookcrossing.com/---/15091846/
I got sort of a weird JE on this today. The JE itself is very short, but not weird... what's weird is that it was posted 4 times by the same finder, but with a different town in the Niagara region as the place for each entry. I don't know what's happening there.
