BOOKS HAVE BEEN IN MY LIFE since I can remember. Luckily, my parents were both avid readers who encouraged me to try new authors and genres. As a result, there isn't a single class trip, family vacation, or lazy summer day in which
I didn't assume the nose-in-book position. My love of books developed into an interest in writing, and after high school I spent four years living in South Carolina (GO, GAMECOCKS!) earning a degree in journalism. I graduated in 2003 and moved to Alexandria,
Va., to start my career at a nonprofit association. Four years later, my husband and I quit our jobs and left the D.C. area for rural Pennsylvania.
I DISCOVERED BOOKCROSSING by accident when I found
www.bookcrossing.com/---/809808" target="_blank">this book on my library's free shelves. The concept caught my interest. Not long after finding the first book, I dropped some things off at the local Goodwill. On the bookshelves there, I found
two
more BookCrossing books and took it as a sign that I should sign up. So many thanks to
ResQGeek and Vibbs for their wild releases, which led me here!
WE'VE BEEN MOVING AROUND on temporary assignments - a few weeks in this city, a couple months in that state - for nearly two years, which has kept me mostly inactive here on BookCrossing. But for now at least, we get to be "home"
for a while, which means I can finally unpack all those boxes of books! So please bear with me as I get reacquainted with the site and all its wonderful new members!
I enjoy just about everything BookCrossing has to offer — from wild releasing (I'm working on
Wyld Releases, a blog detailing my wild release adventures) to trading, from RABCKing to 'Raying.
Most of the books I offer as Book Rings or Book Rays will be released in the wild when they return/reach their final destination. I hope their respective finders enjoy reading about all the books' adventures! I also check members' wish lists. My favorite
wild release spot used to be on the book shelves at
www.stelmoscoffeepub.com/" target="_blank">St. Elmo's Coffee Pub, an unofficial BookCrossing zone in Alexandria, Va., where I used to organize monthly BookCrossing meetups (try the chai!). Now that I'm in a new area, I'll be searching for new potential
UOBCZs - suggestions welcome!
If I've offered you a RABCK, you are, of course, under no obligation to accept, but
please send me a
www.bookcrossing.com/---/wyldanthem" target="_blank">PM saying 'no thanks' so I know to offer it to another Wisher or release it in the wild.
I don't register books from my personal collection, so anything marked
PC (in gray) is either a Book Ring or 'Ray that has gone missing or it is part of someone else's personal collection — check the journal entry to find out which. Anything listed
AVL (in green) is available — I tend to pass on books quickly, so I don't often have many in this category; if you would like something that is currently listed as
TBR (in purple), I'll move it up Mount TBR and get it to you as soon as possible. However,
book rings and book rays take precedence over anything else I'm reading/mailing.
BOOKRINGS AND 'RAYS ARE A GREAT WAY to put some mileage on a book before releasing it to the wild. If you are interested in joining one of the 'Rings or 'Rays I'm hosting, please check the journal entry
first to make sure it's still traveling. (Items followed by a star — * — are completed and either in the wild or no longer with me.) If it is, feel free to
PM me with your shipping preferences and I'll try to add you to the end!
Rays/Rings I'm Participating In:
(Click on the book to be taken to its journal.)
Rays/Rings With Me Now:
(Click on the book to be taken to its journal.)
Rays/Rings I've Organized:
(Listed by Book Title A-Z. Click on the book to be taken to its journal.)
Objective: Read 50 books between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2009 (For more details, visit the
www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?... target="_blank">LiveJournal Community.)
Objective: To wild release a book in as many different places as possible!
Lifetime Wild Releases: 54
Caught Wild Releases: 17
(Click on the location to see which book was released there.)
* This book was caught!
Lifetime Release Challenge
Objective: To send a book to every state in the United States and every country in the world - via wild release, 'ring, 'ray, RABCK, or other means.
PROGRESS REPORT: UNITED STATES
(Alabama, Alaska, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington
D.C., West Virginia, Wisconsin) 28 of 50 states
PROGRESS REPORT: THE WORLD
(Australia, Brazil, Canada, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Poland, Switzerland, United Kingdom/England, United States)
BOOK SALE! The Friends of the Lancaster County Library are hosting a book sale
June 8-10 at F&M Alumni Center. Visit
Lancaster's Library Web site for more information.
BOOK GIVEAWAY! Need more books? What BookCrosser doesn't! Make a trip to Baltimore to visit
bookthing.org/index.html" target="_blank">The Book Thing -- they have loads of books and they're all FREE! Check the Book Thing's Web site for store hours and directions.
Want to keep your random act of BookCrossing kindness (RABCK) a surprise? Register at
www.rabck.com" target="_blank">www.rabck.com to learn how.
If you're looking for a good place to leave a good book or two, use the
homepage.mac.com/---/OBCZWorldMap.htm" target="_blank">Official BookCrossing Zone Finder for an OBCZ (or unofficial BCZ, but generally book-friendly spot) near you!
BOOKCROSSING IS A COMMUNITY OF GIVERS who never cease to amaze me. There are so many people who volunteer their time to make this site the friendly, helpful, and free community that it is. Since I joined,
I've had the pleasure of interacting with a few of them, and I just wanted a spot where I could call attention to their kindness and say
THANKS! So consider this my ever-growing, but by no means complete, Acknowledgements page. :o)
Anonymous Finder, for giving us all hope;
Antof9, for always making me laugh; Ardy, for the RABCK; Avanta7, for the RABCK;
Beachlover2003, for helping me start our Meetup group; BookCzuk, who answers my stupid questions even when she's sick;
Caligula03, for the RABCK and HTML assistance; Corry000, for the RABCK;
Cyber-librarian, for the RABCK; Dallasjay, for the RABCK; FizzFred, for the RABCK;
Heaven150, for the RABCK; InigoMontoya, for the RABCK; Jamesmum, for the RABCK;
Lovemylife, for my first successful Relay trade; MaryZee, for her OBCZ and annual book fair efforts;
Melydia, for starting BC_DC; Mostly-Harmless for the RABCK; Narfinmagic, for the RABCK;
Pashmack, for the RABCK; ResQGeek, for getting me started; Shpriz1 for the RABCK;
Silverstarry, for reviving a bookring; Smhamn, for the RABCK; TexasWren, for her tireless efforts in making everyone feel welcome;
Thelydia, for the RABCK; Tireddebb, for the RABCK; Weeblet, for bein' a pal;
WestofMars (aka Spikesmom), for the RABCK; WTHarvey, for the RABCK; and
Vibbs, for getting me started.
"Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce
by the day."
