Releasing a Book

This isn't as much a photograph as it is an action. If you haven't heard of www.bookcrossing.com, you should get acquainted. Much like blipfoto, this is a site where people share thoughts, ideas, and instead of photos, books!

So, here I am in front of my laptop at Peets Coffee in San Jose "releasing" a book for someone else to find. The way it works is, once you finish reading a book, you log into the site (free) and put in the book's identity (usually the ISBN or EIN) and provide a short comment along with a rating. Then, you find a convenient place to leave your book and log back in to let people all over the world know where they can find it. First one that gets there, gets the book. Now, it has a bookcrossing ID number (you get that when you register the book) and you can download (free) tags that you tape inside the book, on the spine, wherever someone will find them and when they've found your released book, they can login to bookcrossing and let you know it's been found, read it, add their comments, and re-release it for someone else. The first time I got turned on to this idea was when someone next to me on a flight found a book on their seat. This was some time ago and sadly it would probably have been confiscated or taken away by the bomb squad these days. However, it piqued my interest and I joined up and started.

Sometimes, someone that hasn't been online to find out about a book that has been released at a specified location, will find the book by accident, read the tag and join the history path by getting on bookcrossing and doing the same. They will probably become a member and start their own reading and release histories.

It may be hard to understand from my late day - hard work day - description, but if you go to the website it will all become clear.

By the way, in this photo you can see a martini shaker and a glass with ice cold espresso in it. I found out about icy, frothy espresso from a fellow blipper in Tuscany by the name "Tuscany" or Amalari. Thank you so much! I now carry my shaker with me to Peets all the time and I'm sure the folks there must think I'm nuts, but it's a little taste of Northern Italy for me!

Ciao!