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wingkirjakkowing

From Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland
Age 58
Joined Saturday, February 6, 2010
Recent Book Activity
Statistics
4 weeks all time
books registered 60 4,804
released in the wild 68 3,996
controlled releases 12 2,326
releases caught 2 1,025
controlled releases caught 10 1,985
books found 5 2,293
tell-a-friend referrals 0 4
new member referrals 0 4
forum posts 35 8,149
Extended Profile
"In literature as in love, we are astonished at what is chosen by others."
Andre Maurois
(This quatation was stolen from Hendrickje's profile and it is SO true).

☆☆☆ Note to all those lovely non-EU-members: Due to new customs regulations, please do not send me anything apart from letters or postcards , which are most welcome. It's always lovely to hear from you lot! ☆☆☆

Bookcrossing sounded like a fun way of getting rid of books I no longer read or have never read, but when I started to go to meet-ups and Conventions even, the amount of incoming books just increased. Have to be careful here!

I like to read biographies in general and veterinary biographies in particular. George Mikes makes me smile or laugh aloud each and every time. Susan Allen Toth has visited all the same odd and unlikely places in Britain where I have been and all those I never reached + curiouser and curiouser: she has even bought the same books!! How many of you can claim having "Down among the Donkeys" in your shelf or have visited Ken Jones's seal hospital in Gweek, Cornwall? (That was one of the places I didn't get to). I love her travel books England as You Like It, England For All Seasons and My Love Affair With England.
Occasionally I have the urge to read cosy mysteries. No horror and not too violent, please.

I used to work in a bookshop and even got a diploma to prove I'm a qualified book-seller, but in that trade you also have to sell the not-so-good books and in the end I changed careers into vet nursing.
My alias "Kirjakko" dates from that time. In Finnish Karjakko is a person who looks after cattle (karja) and thus Kirjakko has to be a person who looks after books (kirja).

I love to travel in Britain, where second hand and charity bookshops are plentiful and even if Amazon has made it all too simple to find out-of-print books, there is nothing quite so exciting as to find a much craved book or even a book you didn't know existed from the shelves of a nice sh-bookshop. Hay-On-Wye is a heaven, but the prices are a bit dear.

I don't mind at all if you decide to keep a book that has travelled through my hands. Bookcrossing is about not losing track of the books that have left your nest and if they find a loving home, all the better. To have and to hold, to love and to cherish - that is what books are for!
Many of my friends have passed their surplus books over to me for BC-purposes, sometimes even bagfuls. I've been very happy to receive stickers and labels as RABCKs; they are put into good use.

I descend from a long line of hoarders and apart from books I collect get-well-soon cards where the patient is an animal (occupational oddity). And Thomas Kinkade cards are always appriciated. I drink several pots of tea per day and thanks to fellow bookcrossers I have had the opportunity to taste different teas from all over the world.
Hints for the Birthday Group, apart from wishlist books or what has been mentioned above: I know only sky is the limit when your imagination flies, but in case your batteries are low:
There are some nutty knitters among bookcrossers and although May is not the most typical month to receive mittons or woolly socks, I'm all for them. They can be made of left-over yarn having crazy colours, anything goes. Cinderella's sock size is slim European 42.
For the Finnish participants: Anything by Inge Löök or Virkkukoukkunen puts a smile on my face. I love tea, but anything else by mouth is a no-no, I need to get rid of soooo much fat.

"One way to fill your life
is to spend it
reading about how
other people filled theirs."
- Ashleigh Brilliant -

All catches delight me, here are some of my favourites, released either by me or somebody after me:
Borneo, Malaysia, 2014 www.bookcrossing.com/---/12192293/
Visby, Sweden, 2015 www.bookcrossing.com/---/12417832/
Cornwall, UK, 2018 www.bookcrossing.com/---/15150197/
Porvoo, 2020 www.bookcrossing.com/---/16086134/
Tamina Gorge, Switzerland, 2023: www.bookcrossing.com/---/15440285/
Montagnola, Switzerland, 2023 www.bookcrossing.com/---/15812645/
Helsinki, 2023 www.bookcrossing.com/---/17056298/
Helsinki, 2024 www.bookcrossing.com/---/16744289/


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