Pre-numbered label used for registration.

Another registration "for bookcrossing purposes". Now that I have the eye of one of BXing "mission control" I would like to outline my reasons for suggesting a category of book: "for bookcrossing purposes"

Quizzical is cleaning her house of books. She has just moved house, got a new job and has no time to register and release herself. So over to fellow bxer newk. Out of the goodness of my heart I am to register and release and maybe just maybe read them first.

But Bookczuk has asked some of us ***particularly nice*** bxers to give heather a bit of fun and register books for her. AND I am sure that skyring will help heather have some fun via this book.

So I now have this book on **MY** shelf. I don't really want it there as some people judge others by these books. But the "bookcrossing purposes" as outlined above are overwhelming. Just think I could put it in a special category that could be filtered out when my shelf was searched.

Enough you cry.

Lucky for Ron that I don't have any rego numbers for him!!! (psssssttttt chucky got any???). If I did I could fill all the journal entries with my friendly suggestions. WOW.

OK nearly finished.

Love the time zones, love the site, love the plastic bags.

Over to you pete

I feel that I'm being used as some sort of go-between here. Newk has some serious explaining to do, I think.

Let's see. Perhaps I should add my feedback, having just had dinner.

I LOVE my Bookcrossing tote bag. It's big and bright and yellow and holds a ton of books. It's been to Canberra and Sydney and Washington, and when it got back from being stowed in the holds of half a dozen different aircraft and being toted around a very snowy DC, it was looking pretty grotty, so I just chucked it in the Whirlpool and it came out good as new.

It's going to be dragged around Dunedin and Christchurch and London and Fort Worth and San Francisco next. We'll see if it holds up under the stresses of round the world Bookcrossing. Probably do better than me, I reckon. When I get back home in seven weeks I might be coming apart at the seams.

The bookplates and postit notes and lapel pins and bookmarks and stuff are all top notch quality. I feel really proud to be part of the Bookcrossing family and it just looks plain impressive when I use the stuff to sell the idea.

And I love my Bookcrossing keyring.

Just keep on going the way you are with the merchandise.

What else would I like to see? Can we get insulated Bookcrossing mugs? The shipping costs on china or stoneware would eat up the profits, but plastic would be OK. I've attached a photograph and you can see I've made a modification to the right hand of my own version of the Bookcroosing logo. I'll be taking this particular one with me on my travels. It has a built-in plunger and it's just darling. Smart Cafe by Cafetiere.

What about stationery? Bookcrossing Day-timer pages with fields for releasing in the field, as it were. Spaces for BCID, title, ISBN, release notes. Sometimes, like at meetups, you get into a release frenzy and later on sitting in front of your computer, it's hard to remember just what happened. But with a pad of these pages, I could jot down the details as they happen. We used something similar at the Sydney convention and very handy they were - we were releasing books at an awesome rate and the sheets helped keep everything straight. Spent a lot of money at internet cafes, but.

I'd best keep plugging away. I had two M-bags arrive at once and I have more notes to make.

Oh yeah. The book. Um, it's a very light job, so this one will be heading O/S with me, one way or another. I'll have to think about this, but New Zealand looks good.

Is skyring the world's only full time bookcrosser??

This "interesting" book was given to me this evening at our special Dunedin meetup in honour of Skyring's visit. Hi Heather from Dunedin, NZ, it's lovely to meet you, and hi Newk, we talked of you tonight ;-)
That cup of Skyrings would be a GREAT addition to the bookcrossing store, Heather, he showed it to us tonight,it has a nifty plunger thing in it too.
Now a question people -what am I to do with this book now -apart from read it that is?

PS I love the bookcrossing plastic bags too, here hopefully is a photo of book I released in one at a Maori rock art site near Duntroon in Nth Otago on Sunday.

Ah skyring...the perfect go between. No explanation needed. You have helped the book have an adventure and helped show heather the bookcrossing world.

Most excellent.


big wave to Heather. I wonder if it was ever envisaged that books would do "bookabouts" when bxing was invented.

And I like the drinking thingy too.


Have a great time in NZ all

A GREAT time was had in New Zealand. Looking forward already to the 2006 Dunedin event. I spent four days there before Christchurch and it is a beautiful city. Some great Bookcrossers and I make no doubt that it will all go off swimmingly.

Best of all, it has roads winding along both sides of the harbour at water level with no guardrails, just perfect for a coach load of Bookcrossers to make water-borne releases in those amazing ziploc bags, by just leaning out the window and plopping them in.

Ah, so it looks like we will have to plan a bus trip to Taiaroa Head to the Albatross Colony doesn't it :-) And Heather, if you are reading this, we would love to have you here in Dunedin for the 2006 NZ convention to be held sometime early in the year -you will be able to see some very keen bookcrossers in action and see those wonderful release bags being put to good use!!

Oh yes! And I am sure heather would be welcomed to Brisbane to the convention there in June

Having met Heather, I am quite sure she would be welcome anywhere! Newk, you have GOT to come over to Charleston to meet her. And the darling Bookczuk.

If not Toronto.

Pete, counting his pennies

I passed this book onto a certain bookcrosser from Christchurch this afternoon, I am sure she will put it to good use (might even take it to space ;-) )

Anyway, Skyring, I thought I would let you know that thanks to a reveiw of yours, I got Between Silk and Cyanide by Leo Marks out of the library to read. My husband loved it and I thought it pretty good too, but what really caught my eye was page 370 where a "bemused lieutenant" surrendered a book to the author, while he was in Cairo sorting out coding practices, and guess which book was surrendered, it was this very one -The Four Just Men !

Thanks for passing that on, boreal! Serendippity-doo-dah! I loved Between Silk and Cyanide and it was an immense thrill to see the famous bookshop at 84 Charing Cross Road, where Leo Marks and Sigmund Freud spent many happy hours though alas, not together.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/2520843

And since Newk made his famous observation, I've become even more the full time Bookcrosser than I ever thought possible. Tomorrow I give a talk at University of Canberra about Bookcrossing to a class of graduate literature students. And this is but the tip of the iceberg.

I'm counting the days until I can return to Dunedin. At least seven months to go until 2006. Oh, how can I last the distance?

Some months ago, a group of intrepid Cantabrians ventured south to visit Dunedin. While we were there, Boreal handed me a very special book, saying that it was a direct link to Heather. I was suitably impressed, and put it away safely in Lytteltonwitch's car... where I somehow managed to leave it. Since then, Lytteltonwitch and I have kept reminding each other about the book, yet somehow never managed to actually be in the same place at the same time when she's had the book with her. But finally tonight the book was safely handed over, so I can say "Hi Heather" from Christchurch.

So:

Hi Heather from Christchurch!

(Oh, and Hi Newk and Skyring and Boreal too!)

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While we are using our direct line to heaven, oooppps Heather, I wanted to tell Heather how much we all enjoyed the Brisbane convention. Heather, I especially appreciated your word of greetings in the official program.
Indeed Pete I am planning on going to Charleston...could you tell by the T shirt advertising?

Tee Hee..One of the Brisbanites was "bragging" that they had Heather's personal email address (how's that for dobbing?) because that is where the greeting came from!

And Hi back Catty...did you know that the "In honour of futurecat's 1000th book bookbag" also has a direct line to Heather?

cheers all

Cripes! Forget about a direct line to Heather. She's a bonzer shiela, a real good sort, and a founder of BookCrossing, but the real deal is having a direct line to Newk.

This man is THE t-shirt KING. He doesn't talk. He just smiles and slips on a new t-shirt. If you say something to him, he reaches into his pocket and puts on a new one. Like Harpo Marx - no spoken words.

I have never seen Newk without clothes, and this is one of the great joys of my life, but my guess is that he is NOT seriously overweight, just rugged up in multiple layers of conversational t-shirts.

Oh yeah. And pockets.

It will be interesting to see how he gets through airport security.

Fetching female security officer: "(Crikey. We got a live one 'ere!) Could you just remove your jacket so we can frisk you, sir?"

Newk: slips on a t-shirt saying "Ooooh, you hussy! Fly with me to Charleston!"

FFSO: "What's that in your pocket, sir?"

NOTE: the remaining portions of this journal entry have been removed by BookCrossing.com Security on grounds of poor taste. All but the final line, which returns to good, if not conventional, taste.

FFSO: "Thank you, sir. You may put your clothes back on now. If you wish."

I feel it's somehow wrong to actually use a journal entry to talk about the book ;-), but I've just read it, and really enjoyed it. I didn't expect it to be my kind of book (there I go, judging a book by its cover again!), but thought I'd read it anyway, just because it was such an important book (in bookcrossing terms), and I was pleasantly surprised.

There's some really interesting stuff in there, about justice, and honesty, and terrorism (they may call them anarchists in the book, but in today's world we'd call the Four Just Men terrorists), as well as being a rather nice mystery, that manages to present the story from both the police and the terrorists' viewpoint while still preserving the mystery right up to the end. Major spoiler coming up, highlight to read: And I particularly liked the solution to the mystery, if only because there was such a limited period of history in which it could have worked - the book had to be written at a time when electricity was still such a novelty that murder by electrocution was possible, yet wouldn't have immediately occured to the police. (spoiler ends)

Anyway, a good book, and well worth reading.

Now, who should I pass it on to next?

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Hello catty. hello heather.

Futurecat!!!??? Reading books, and writing reviews online!?? What a fantastic concept. Better tell Heather about it :)

Tell Ron we love him

picked up at lunch today

Tidying up books and puzzled as to where this book came from.Checked and I logged it as having picked it while out to lunch I assume with a cat from the future.
Sorry but really not my style of reading and I still have several hundred books in my wardrobe,garage,under the bed,beside the bed to read.Will take four just men out to dinner next week and let them pick someone else up.I am being greedy keeping them to myself.

Picked up at last nights bookcrossing - wonder where it has been since August. Dunking in & out a Canterbury hotspots no doubt. It actually looks like an interesting read....
Will have to see...
"Hi Heather"

Still on the TBR pile - I really want to actually read it the genre is my thing but i've had so many GOOD books recently. Taking down to the convention - will give to good home if I give away without reading.

Picked this up on the Meet and Greet night.
I was told to take good care of this book. :o)

G'day, Heather. And Rars, and Jill, and FutureCat and LytteltonWitch and Cathietay. And Newk. And everyone else!

This was a tough trivia night, I've got to tell you. "Name the three longest rail tunnels in New Zealand. In order."

Crikey! All you could hear around the room were the jaws of the Aussies and Americans hitting the floor thunkathunkathunka.

Luckily my team was ably led by three of those wonderful Kiwi women, who somehow made up an answer to satisfy the judges. Pixette and I as the Australian contingent, merely waggled our rabbit ears at each other.

And at the end of the night, after the bottles of cheap champagne were hard up against the E mark on the plonkometer dial, the marks were tallied up and we had won!!!

What a triumph! I was especially pleased because I wanted to win a T-shirt not found in the BookCrossing Supply Store - a rare limited edition black and silver New Zealand BookCrossing Convention Dunedin 2006 shirt. In XL. Collect the whole set, I said to myself, shuddering slightly at the thought of what Newk might come up with for the Adelaide convention.

The picture shows "The Bunnies": Sherlockfan, Cathietay, Skyring, Rarsberry, Pixette.

It was a wonderful convention. I love Dunedin, I love BookCrossing, and the combination of the two under the superb direction of the delightful Rarsberry, Boreal and Kiwijan was unbeatable.

Heather, you've got to trot yourself down to Dunedin, if for no other reason than to see the magificent albatrosses as they glide around the city, swooping down to pluck books out if the hands of delighted BookCrossers.

Thank you for those kind words Skyring.
Its only wednesday but it seems like a month ago that we had the convention.
It was a excellent weekend.
To see people I knew again and to meet new ones, they are all wonderful.
We couldn't have asked for better weather, and of course as soon as the last person left it rained, that afternoon, and its doing it again today!!
So many books were released all over Dunedin. That and the great newspaper article we had on Friday, we are getting lots of new members here, so lets hope we can get some of them keen to release and attned Meetups.
Of course I now have more books to read, though I can't put down the one my boyfriend gave me on Sunday. :O)
It was a pity not to have heard back from the card we sent to Ron and co, but I guess they have been rather busy lately.
The next closest convention to us is Adelaide, I so wish I could be there, it would be my first time overseas, and there are so many Aussies I am yet to meet.
We are having a convention de-briefing this Thursday night, gather the feedback to send to anyone that wants it, wonder what to do with our small surplus and generally pat ourselves on the back and remember.

Now where will we be next year? Wellington or Auckland? For once there are two cities that want to do it, so we shall see.

Now I had better go and make release notes and finish posting those pictures on Flickr. :O)


ETA: After Labour weekend I am catching up on release notes from our weekend away to Chch.
I admit this book sat on my bookshelf for ages, and I didn't read it. Not my sort of book.
But I got to be part of this books history, one that started in famous hands.
I took it with me to Chch and put it on the table at the Sunday afternoon Meetup.
Seems an Aussie has picked it up so it can travel to far off lands.... over the ditch!!
Happy travels little book. :O)

Picked up at Browsers Cafe at the meet-up. Thought I would take this little bit of Bookcrossing history back over the pond to Oz.

Sorry it has taken a few days to register - have only just got to a computer.

Was lovely meeting everyone - will post formal thanks on BCNZ and BCAUS soon :)

RELEASE NOTES:

Going to be handed to amberC at Jaimaca blue at the meet-up

RELEASE NOTES:

Going to be handed to amberC at Jaimaca blue at the meet-up

Given this piece of bookcrossing history at the meet-up. To think it has been held, and sometimes read, by the most famous bookcrossers. I'm a little overwhelmed to have the responsibilty of looking after and passing on this book.

As for the merchandise, love it all, especially the balycumber earrings. Essential wear when going to meet-ups and I'm sure they increase catch rates when releasing books.

Time for this piece of Bookcrossing history to move on. It is travelling with another book (they shouldn't travel alone) to visit the wonderful woosang.

Happy travels little book.

I caught this book as an orphan after a BookCrossing meeting at the Porterhouse Pub in Sydney. I had no idea that it had a History... so I guess I won't release it randomly after all!

When Fleebo moved I inherited boxes of books for release. I haven't been able to journal them all - there were so many! As this one has a history, I'll keep an eye on it and make sure it goes to a good home.

RELEASE NOTES:

To be released at meetup

thanks. perfect for reading on the train

Wot, you're going to actually read this book?

This is not a book for reading. This is a book for throwing, like a hand grenade, at some unsuspecting BookCrosser.

Newk, you'll be pleased to know that I gave away your book on forbidden love to a demure librarian, saying, "This one's for you, darling."

well she is German. And everyone who gets this book needs to remember that you get a chance to say HI HEATHER!!!!

Hey, I read the book! It was quite good, actually. (Though next you'll be saying my German ancestry had a hand in the madness that was reading it ;-))

Hi Heather! Thanks for the offer of a bed in Sandpoint. I would so love to visit bookcrossing's head office, but I don't think I'm going to be able to fit it into my packed itinerary :-( You'll just have to make sure you come to the 2009 convention in Christchurch instead!

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That's the spirit catty, but you probably got a direct line to Heather anyway

A good short read

-> Goes Into the Aussie General Bookbag