BookCrossing

Yesterday's mail brought an unexpected surprise--a free copy of Wild Animus by Rich Shapero. I had signed up to get a free copy who knows how long ago, but had forgotten all about it and certainly wasn't holding my breath waiting for its arrival. Sounds like an interesting story, which I'll get around to reading eventually. They're still listing the offer on the site, so if you're cheap like me, give it a shot and sign up.

I was into BookCrossing for a while, a few years back. It's an attractive concept, in theory--read a book that you love, and leave it somewhere for an unknown reader to pick up, read and hopefully enjoy as well. Sharing the love of reading, and all that. But ultimately the concept is flawed. Of course I want to share great books that mean a lot to me with friends and family--but what intrinsic award to I get out of it if I merely abandon the book on the remote chance that a complete stranger will find it and read it? I released seven books, with no success. After a while, it seemed like I was just throwing these books away, which is why the ones I released weren't exactly my cherished ones. With none of them being recovered, and failing to get any sense of community from the site, I haven't bothered with it for well over a year now.

If you look at various participants' pages, you'll see that recovery rates for books are very low. A lot of these books probably get thrown in the trash by diligent custodians, and many of the people that do "catch" books apparently don't bother going to the website and registering their find. Thus, the whole "reading community" idea that BookCrossing is trying to propogate never really materializes.

I'm sure the founder means well, but the idea just doesn't work.