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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 475
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OP
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As previously discussed on the board, I have got well into this whole bookcrossing business. Today I went out and left 13 books around in my neighbourhood and guess what, somebody caught one! When I got back I went to make the release notes and someone had already beaten me to it. This is the most fun way to encourage reading and commmunity spirit I have heard of. OOOH, I'm tickled pink I am. Check it out @ www.bookcrossing.com . I'm sharing my id ( isn' it perfect the way that abbreviation has lost it's capitals )with my partner so I'm panheaduk not dodyskin.
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
Hey, cool. I'm flying into Manchester next week so I'll keep an I out for your books.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
The idea sounds nice and I admit that if I found a book with an I.D. I'd certainly go an register it BUT I don't think I could purposefully leave a book I loved reading.
What if it gets thrown away or broken. The idea really makes me sad. Books are rather precious.
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Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 475
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OP
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Joined: Apr 2002
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Initially, I was a bit worried about the high proportion of books that are never heard of again, however, having discovered the book skips outside the back of a charity bookshop to which I have often donated ( and been a customer) I figured you can never be sure that a book you give away will ever be read again so why not have a little fun with it, and give a stranger a world for free. I live near a bus depot and I plan to ride the buses between two stops for an hour or so, leaving a book on each one. Some of these books are pretty bad in my opinion but we bought them and read them so it is a safe bet that someone will appreciate them, if only for the duration of a rush hour traffic jam, on the bus on the way to work. Of course, if you are uncomfortable with the idea of just random distribution, you can set up book rings and then you definitely know that someone who wants the book has it. Also, I read a hell of a lot and live in a small house so practicalities of space have definitely stoked my enthusiasm for this project.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
I read a hell of a lot and live in a small house so practicalities of space have definitely stoked my enthusiasm for this project.
There is no such thing as too many bookcases. I think this is in the Bible. At least I tell my wife it is.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
In our first house, we made the mistake of mounting bookcases on a non-load bearing wall.
we ended up installing lolly columns in the basement a few years later, (we used a hydralic jack to first jack the floor jousts up to level)
Now, i too, like dodyskin believe in giving books away.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
Ah-ha, can I quote you to my hubby Father Steve? Does your wife buy it?? At last count I had some 700 books, and my hubby seems to think this is too many. Once he reads a book he wants to chuck it - something I would never dream of doing. I tried to explain that as we get older, our mind goes, so I'll probably forget and have to re-read books, but then he call me on the fact that I keep buying more
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Joined: Apr 2002
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OP
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Joined: Apr 2002
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
>>I think you can have too many bookcases.
I dunno. We're big book borrowers/lenders in my family.
When the family is over, it is the norm to have Dad, brothers or sister be bringing back books they've borrowed to switch for some they haven't read yet.
They also drop off books they've bought and read. This adds to the communal pool.
(Mom doesn't borrow books since she reads French and all my books - save one or two - are English)
Plus, having all those books around when my son was young encouraged him to read (I never said no to buying books). His being an avid reader helped him tremendously in school.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." ~ Jorge Luis Borges, writer (1899-1986)
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