Anyone seen this?

www.bookcrossing.com

A bit like that 1000 Journals idea, but with books.

I'd love to give it a go....now I just need to find books I want to release into the wild...

that does sound pretty cool

but I'm such a re-reader...

Yes! I mean to do it whenever I fly somewhere, but I always forget.

An interesting idea, but as with any application of an `honor` system you are still faced with the free rider problem.. i.e What`s to stop people just taking the books and not contributing?

I've released a bunch of books into the wild now, and only two of them have been registered by the finders--one that I sent directly to another Bookcrosser, and one that someone picked up and was kind enough to register. Two out of, what, seven, I think.

It's such a great concept, and I have this giddy feeling every time I release a book, but I've found it very frustrating that so few people actually go through with registering. Then again, maybe it's because of where I'm located--maybe there just aren't enough internet-savvy people here.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Jeff maybe? (He's the one who got me onto it.)

so?

the books are still serving their purpose, getting themselves out there to people who haven't read them.

quote:

Originally posted by supersnazz:
so?

the books are still serving their purpose, getting themselves out there to people who haven't read them.

True, but the same argument could be made for not returning library books. Eventually it would undermine the system because the public would tire of funding a system that was being abused. Thus you`d get fewer books being read by those who can`t afford them.

quote:

Originally posted by supersnazz:
so?

the books are still serving their purpose, getting themselves out there to people who haven't read them.

Yeah, but a big part of why I joined Bookcrossing in the first place was because I wanted to track the books. Not for the people who read them, but just to see, out of curiosity, how far they go. And to get the comments of people I don't know who randomly picked them up. To me, that's the point.

Otherwise I would have just donated everything to a thrift store or a library.

quote:

Originally posted by Circus:
Otherwise I would have just donated everything to a thrift store or a library.

Well, that's what I'm gonna do mainly. Unless I'm going into London City, or anywhere abroad, I don't see any point in leaving books around my part of town. I doubt that there would be enough people who would actually pick the book up in the first place and then actually read it, let alone register on the site and note that they found it. I could be wrong.

I think it's just a nice way of tracking books that you set free, whatever happens. Even the site makers agree that very few of them would be found and journaled.

But there you go, that's the risk.

I keep thinking of doing this when I see a duplicate copy of something I liked for sale cheap at a used book store, but mostly I end up leaving the dupes at our friends' beach house.

- Cho

I was into that for a while. But then my release spot (or whatever they call it) went under new management and they got rid of the bookshelves (the coffee shop.) The closest spot to me now is at the college, but I don't know my way around there. Lame excuse, I know.