terça-feira, 7 de agosto de 2012

Penny, the bookcrosser

Hello there!
Have you ever heard of Bookcrossing? It's a very interesting way to share books with other people, consisting in basically three steps: you read a book, label it and leave it on a public place for another person to find it. It's a good idea to give your old books a good use, and also to share their stories with the world.
I had tried it this weekend, and found it a nice experience. Here it is, in three steps:

1. You read a book

I must admit I'm not very fond of giving my things away, mainly when it comes to books.
But I had this series, and readed only the first book. I didn't like it much, it was a nice story, but definitely not my style. So, I wasn't going to read the next two.
Wasn't it unfair to keep three books, one of which I don't like, and two that I would never read?
I thought it was. So, after realizing that the books wouldn't match any of my friends' taste, I decided to try bookcrossing.

"Nº1 Ladies Detective Agency" series

2. You label it

In order to track "your" (it's not yours anymore) book, you can register it at Bookcrossing.com. Then they will give you a code to write on the book, using a label with instructions, so that the next person who finds it, and the person after that, can put the code in the site and tell you what they think of the book.
In Brazil, it is a particularly complicated process. There are a few "Bookcrossing spots" around my city, and I was suposed to live my books at one of these places, where people who know bookcrossing would leave/look for books. I didn't like that idea. I wanted my books to be found by someone who wasn't expecting it, someone who maybe wasn't even looking for any culture on that day.
So, I didn't register them. Instead, I just wrote a note telling whoever founds the books to enjoy it and to please leave them to someone else after reading.

The outside part of my note says "Found these books? Take them!"

3. You free it!

Finding a place was hard. I wanted the books to be safe, and at the same time wanted them to be seen by enough people, so that they could find their destiny.
I ended up choosing the subway on a saturday afternoon, when people are probably going out to meet friends or else, and not on a hurry to work.

The last sight I had of them.

It was quite hard to leave them there. Not having registered it, I would never get to know who found them and what happened next. I wish I could hide somewhere close to watch until they were found, but I couldn't. So, I only left them behind, hoping they would follow a good path. I don't know if someone is reading them right now, or if they were sold to a second hand bookstore. All I know is that it is a good feeling to leave this mistery and some good energies for some stranger.

It was a really nice experience. Would you try that too?

7 comentários:

  1. I signed up for Bookcrossing years ago, but I totally forgot about it! I even have a couple books that I could release into the "wild"! What a fun thing to do!

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  2. Fer
    Amei sua idéia! também não gosto de me desfazer de meus livros, mas um ou outro que não gostei pode ser! Vou me registrar no site indicado, achei uma ótima idéia quem o criou!

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  3. What a nice project! I don't think I could ever be able to do something like that, haha. I get too easily and heavily attached to my books. They truly are my little precious goodies!

    I sent your letter out today too by the way! :D

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  4. It sounds a nice project :) I should try it too, I have some books I don't read anymore, so why not leaving them somewhere!

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  5. I've awarded your blog with the Liebster Award! Please check out my post here http://feedotbee.blogspot.ca/2012/08/the-liebster-blog-award.html

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  6. hi there ty for your lovely comment on my blog, i would love to have a penpal from brazil :) if this is ok drop me an email on roo_uk2004@hotmail.com

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