Used book trade meets hide-and-seek
BookCrossing, a site for free, random book exchange, looks like a lot of fun. The idea is that you tag one of your books with a label that directs the finder to the Bookcrossing site, release the book into the wild, and then post a message indicating where you left it. Then the next person to find it makes a journal entry about it, and so on. I like the idea of book exchange via deliberately "losing" books where they can be found by unknown passersby; I also like the way the site builds on these serendipitous connections between readers.
Currently there are only a few people releasing books in the Charlottesville area. I think I’ll sign up and see if I can add a some books to the tally. Maybe I’ll release my copy of I Capture the Castle, which I found at the Jefferson-Madison Library book sale complete with a previous reader’s one-word review ("Wonderful!") on a sticky note inside the cover. It seems fitting to pass it on to the next person. If I can stand to let it go, that is.
Your last line of the post mirrors my first reaction when reading it! One would have to let books go to participate! 😉
I would have a very hard time releasing that particular book.