Oct 03 2002
books, books, books
This past weekend I stumbled upon BookCrossing.com (via a series of links which I’ve since forgotten). I kinda dig the concept:
* Read a good book (you already know how to do that)
* Register it here (along with your journal comments), get a unique BCID (BookCrossing ID number), and label the book
* Release it for someone else to read (give it to a friend, leave it on a park bench, donate it to charity, "forget" it in a coffee shop, etc.), and get notified by email each time someone comes here and records journal entries for that book. And if you make Release Notes on the book, others can Go Hunting for it and try to find it!
I think I’m going to try this with one of the books I’m currently carrying around, Driving Mr. Albert: A trip across America With Einstein’s Brain. I may even try it with some of my other books, but there could be problems.
You see, I’m a something of a Book Hoarder.
Bookstores are often Traps for me; I find great difficulty in wandering into one without emerging with at least two or three (or more) new purchases to add to my ever-growing to-read pile.
I think this coveting of books started when I was little. According to family members, I didn’t play with the dolls I was given, but my books…. my books I loved. This hasn’t changed - I still love books (and still don’t play with dolls). The majority of the books I now acquire and read are fiction, sci-fi, fantasy, and lots of tech books ( particularly O’Reilly) dealing with unix system administration, various programming lanugages, and web development. Husband has similar reactions in bookstores, and though our tastes overlap considerably, there aren’t many duplicates in our individual collections. Unfortunately, this means my to-read pile at home is actually double or triple what it was a year ago. And still I bring more home.
Years ago I belonged to Columbia House, primarily to take advantage of their initial “9 CDs for only $.01!” offering. I quickly discovered that I often forgot to return the “do not send monthly selection” cards, and once the selections arrived I almost always forgot to return them, even if I hated the music. Evenutally these CDs were given away or tossed, and I cancelled my membership after I fulfilled their requirements.
A few years after this, I joined the Quality Paperback Book Club, which has a similar deal - they send monthly selections unless otherwise directed, and offer reasonable discounts on most of their books. I do occasionally order specific books from them, but I’ve found that, as with the CD club, I frequently neglect to decline the monthly shipment. The difference here, however, is that I have never even *wanted* to return one of the monthlies, even when the subject matter isn’t of much interest or the author is a complete unknown. “Ooo, new books!” I tear into the packages when they arrive as though it were Christmas, and with glee I add the newcomers to the bookcase.
I’ve also subscribed to a book discussion mailing list, BibliaFiles, maintained by a college friend of mine. This has fueled a number of impulse Amazon orders, and is yet another reason my “must read” list has grown by leaps and bounds.
For folks who can’t quite comprehend the desire to obtain books and/or the enjoyment to be had from curling up on a rainy afternoon with a fantastic story, or the comfort and pleasure of sitting in a room full of books, perhaps the following will help. It’s actually a fairly accurate description for both Husband and myself (minus the lying and stealing bits, o’course. scheming, however….):
