Bookcrossing

Today I went to a BookCrossing meeting. I've always like to read, and when I found BookCrossing about two years ago I was happy to join!

The idea behind BookCrossing is that many people read books, only to put them on their shelf after reading, where they'll collect dust for the rest of eternity. Why not share them with others? In BookCrossing you can register books you own but no longer need, get a number (BCID, Book Crossing ID number), label the book with this number and some brief information on what BookCrossing is all about, and then leave the book somewhere for a random stranger to find. Hopefully, the finder will read the book and also go to the BookCrossing website and enter the number, letting the previous owner know he or she has found it. After reading, the finder passes it on again and some books have traveled all over the world this way!

Now I must add, I have a hard time letting go of my books. I've only released a few books of my own; I'm a frequent re-reader and I like to have a good collection on my bookshelf. But I still like the idea of sharing books so much I often get books especially for BookCrossing. Marktplaats (sort of like Craig's List) often has free books listed, I get many from thrift stores and one of the Dutch BookCrossers has made a deal with her local thrift store to pick up many of the unsold books, too. My room's full of books now, stacks are everywhere, but I'm reading books I don't think I would've even come across if it hadn't been for BookCrossing.

I'd like to invite any readers to join BookCrossing, and who knows, we may read each other's books some day! (Yes, this is a referral link, but it's not a commercial site, I just like to see who joined through my blog or website. But if you really hate referral links just use 'http://www.bookcrossing.com' :))