Last Sunday I went to our regular bookcrossing meeting held here in Bangkok once a month. I’ve been to these meetings for a few years now and it’s one event I look forward to every month. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s quite simple: people go to bookcrossing.com to connect with other readers; they leave books in train stations and cafes and hospitals and hotels, or specially designated “bookcrossing zones”, any place it can be picked up by others – bookcrossers or not – but before they do that they register the book on the site and write a number code (BCID) which can be later entered on the same site and this way track the book on its journey. I have registered books this way and left them at hotels or gave them away to people. Some came to me from Vietnam and UK, some went to Cambodia, Germany and Australia. It’s always exciting to find an email which lets me know somebody has found one of the books I released and I can see how far the book has traveled.
A while ago one bookcrosser from London was coming through Bangkok on her holiday and joined us for a chat about books. She brought James Patterson’s novel Toys, which I look forward to reading as I haven’t read any of his novels before.
There were lots of wonderful books to choose from at our bookcrossing get-together. I got all three books of The Farseer Trilogy, a fantasy I’ve been looking forward to reading for months, and also The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul, because with such a title, how could I resist? And because I had just visited my favorite bookstore, Kinokuniya, I had with me The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker, recommended to me by Pryia, and an English translation of The Pendragon Legend by the Hungarian author Antal Szerb. That should keep me busy for a while.
Right now I’m reading the Book 1 of the trilogy and I’m already a big fan. Not only do I like the main character, Fitz, but his ability to communicate with animals makes this even more appealing. I’m glad this is a trilogy and not one of those fantasy series that are still being written. Nothing wrong with those either but I don’t like to wait.
If you know any good fantasy series, please let me know. I’d love to read more and I’m just getting started.
I am looking over the Bookcrossing site.
This is an awesome idea! It also seems like a very organized and workable system. I am thinking that I am going to join and participate.
Thanks for highlighting this Delia.
Hi Brian,
I hope you’ll join the bookcrossers. It’s such a great way to share your love of books. Just put a BCID on a book you want to give away, perhaps one you don’t want to keep, and leave it somewhere people can find it.
You could Google to see if there are any groups in your area. I know there are even bookcrossing conventions in big cities. Not here unfortunately.
I’m glad you’re as excited about this as I am. 🙂
Bookcrossing sounds quirky, Delia. 🙂
And, I am looking forward to reading your thoughts on the trilogy.
It’s quite something, Deepika, I really enjoy it. The bookcrossing meeting I go to opened my eyes to a lot of great books I wouldn’t have read otherwise.
So far the trilogy has been great, I love the story, my only complaint is not having enough time to read as much as I’d like.
I’ve heard about bookcrossing but haven’t tried it myself. Maybe I should as it sounds like a great concept.
I’m so pleased to hear you’re enjoying the Farseer Trilogy! I read it last year and loved it. The second book was probably my favourite of the three.
I hope you give it a try, Helen. It’s great, I’ve been releasing books for years. Not that many, as I haven’t really traveled that extensively, but I do hope to release more in the future.
It’s great to hear you loved the trilogy, now I look forward to the second book. So far it’s great, I like that the author doesn’t get lost in a million little details like in other fantasy books I’ve read. The pace is quite good and there’s always something interesting going on. I hope to make significant progress this weekend.
I read about Bookcrossing quite a few years ago. I’m glad it’s still going strong! I had no idea they actually held meetings. I’m surprised there isn’t a meetup in the SF Bay Area, but as you say, people can get a code from the website.
Hi Deb,
There are bookcrossing conventions, my London friend was telling me, but you’ll have to pay a ticket for that and they have a “book buffet” – tables with hundreds of books on them where people who participate can just take home. Doesn’t that sound amazing?
I found a meeting in the SF Bay Area, (I searched just out of curiosity) I’ll send you an email later with the link.
Nice post, Delia! I had a friend who used to anchor the BookCrossing meeting that used to run in the cafe she was managing, but I have never been to a BookCrossing meeting myself. I am thinking of giving away some books from my collection soon and so after reading your post, I am thinking of finding out whether there is a local BookCrossing group here. The books you have chosen all look quite interesting! Happy reading! Will look forward to hearing your thoughts on them.
Hi Vishy,
I hope you do go to a bookcrossing meeting. Is your friend still running it?
Good luck in finding a local group, let me know if you do.
Even if you can’t find one, you can still register the books and leave them somewhere for other readers to find.
I’m really enjoying The Farseer Trilogy but it may take me a while to finish it. 🙂
I’m surprised I’d never heard of bookcrossing. It sounds so good, I’m signing up. I hope you enjoy the Bram Stoker read, though I think you confused it with The Jewel of Seven Stars, which I’ve read and recommended! Now I’ll watch out for your review of this. 😉 The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul does sound like a must-buy. And you’ve made me curious about The Pendragon Legend… Googling now!
I’m so happy you decided to join bookcrossing, Priya. Please let me know how you like it.
You are right, I confused the books! Well, no problem, I’ll just add The Jewel of Steven Stars to the TBR for my next visit to the book store. 🙂
The Pendragon Legend sounds a bit similar to Dracula, at least in the beginning. That’s what appealed to me. Is it something you’d like to read?