Welcome to The Lost Book!

The Lost Book is a collaborative adventure in storytelling. It's taking place online and anyone can join in. At its heart is an animated web series: the adventures of investigative journalist, and BookCrosser, Aileen Adler, who is trying to solve the crime of a missing book. Episode 3, the second of five episodes to be written by the public, was launched this month. It gave Scotswoman Aileen her first glimpse of the book thief, thanks to her dog Watson's keen nose - watch the story so far. Right now we're working on the plot for episode 4 with help from all the visitors to the website - it will be launched on Friday, 15 May 2009.

Where the story goes next remains in your hands. You can suggest plot developments by visiting www.thelostbook.net now. Each month between now and July the storylines will be pulled together into the next episode, animated and published online.

There are loads of ways you can get involved and it won't cost you anything. Please help us to write the story for the web series - make suggestions or vote on other people's ideas. You can also join our special guest writer Jasper Fforde and reconstruct a stolen book in our weekly microstory competition. You can enter our soundtrack competition by creating your own music for the web series. You can even produce your own animation.

And, you can read this book, tell us what you thought of it, give it away, and follow its journey.

The Lost Book is a partner project to the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust's 2009 reading campaign, The Lost World Read 2009, which is using free books, online resources and events to get people reading The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. The Lost World Read is the largest collaborative reading project ever seen in the UK. We're extending the reading campaign, thanks to the generosity of project sponsors Canongate, by giving away other free books throughout The Lost Book.

Lilian's Story is Kate Grenville's first novel. Lilian Una Singer starts life at the beginning of the twentieth century as the daughter of a prosperous middle-class Australian family. She ends it as a cheerfully eccentric bag-lady living on the streets, quoting Shakespeare. Grenville has won both the Orange Prize for Fiction (for The Idea of Perfection in 2001) and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize (in 2006, for The Secret River, which was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize).

So join in, wherever you are, and have fun!

Reserved for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's treasure hunt!

This book will be released in a mystery location in Glasgow on Friday 1st May - containing a pair of tickets to the SCO's Bass Notes concert at Glasgow City Halls on Friday 8th May. Clues to its location will be posted on www.thelostbook.net at 3:30pm on Friday.

Next week, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra is performing a concert that is out of the ordinary. The concert is called Bass Notes and includes the world premiere of a new double bass concerto by Icelandic composer Haflidi Hallgrímsson. If you've found this book, you've won tickets to hear this concert at City Halls on Friday 8th May. Here's the programme:


KODÁLY Dances of Galánta
HALLGRÍMSSON ‘Sonnambulo’ Concerto Op 42 for Double Bass and Chamber Orchestra World premiere
BARTÓK Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste (Sz 106)

Baldur Brönnimann, conductor
Nicholas Bayley, double bass

Haflidi has had a close relationship with the orchestra for many years as a former principal cellist, and his concerto ‘Sonnambulo’ is dedicated to SCO double bassists Adrian Bornet – who suggested that Haflidi write such a work – and Nicholas Bayley our soloist and SCO Principal Bass. Here Haflidi talks a bit about his piece:

“No string instrument of the orchestra is as elusive and mysterious as the double bass. By adding ‘Sonnambulo’ [meaning Sleepwalker] to the title, I have given myself an opportunity to enter the dark and mysterious world of sleep and strange dreams. My task is to compose music worthy of this instrument – which is so shy of the limelight – and to dream up interesting music, but remain at the same time ‘profoundly awake’.”

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

There are two clues to help you find this book. The first will send you to the correct location. The second, once you've got to the right place, will tell you exactly where you'll find a bright green Scottish Chamber Orchestra envelope. Once you have the envelope, take it to a member of staff who will give you the book. The tickets are tucked inside.

Clue 1:

When Alison tires of her flute,
There's only one possible route,
'Tween Bath Street and station,
A classic location,
You'll follow if you are astute!

This place is open today until 6pm, tomorrow 9 'til 6 and Sunday 1:30 to 5:30.

Clue 2:

I'm neither high or low.
I'm sitting beside and opposite the first composer that SCO are playing tonight.
I'm hiding behind some noise.

Good luck and happy treasure hunting!

Found it! I was dropping my sister off at Queen Street station and thought that JoeSoap and I may as well have a go at finding the book. Thanks so much; we're both really looking forward to the concert on Friday. The book looks good too!