BookCrossing: Free Books for the Finding (or Trading)

BookCrossing is a free, travelling library around the world, based on one website which started it all in 2001.Finish reading a book, go to the site and get an ID number for your book. Leave a review of the book if you like. Leave the book to be found by someone else, randomly. Or, you can trade with other members of the BookCrossing site. Someone may be looking for a copy of the same book. Whoever gets your book can go to the BookCrossing site, look it up by the ID number, see your review, comments about how you found the book, who gave it to you or why you choose to buy that book for yourself. Then the person who has the book from you reads it, leaves their notes and review and releases the book out into the world for someone else to pick up at an airport, a park bench, a bus stop, or maybe a local meeting of BXing (BookCrossing) people.

You may never have heard of BookCrossing (also BC, BCing or BXing) and that's a shame. BookCrossing is how you can find a book lost out in the wild. A wild book is a special thing, not always so easily found when you are actually looking for it.

However, wild books are not dangerous. They won't bite, or scratch. At most you may get a paper cut through mishandling of the book. Bring a book bag, one you can fasten up for good measure. Books have been known to escape after all, you just found one yourself out in the wild!

What Does a Frequent Book Reader Need?

What gadgets and tools does a book reader need? Some extra light for reading at night. A bookstand - especially nice if you're using a cookbook to follow a recipe. Magnification for those words as they seem to get smaller print every year...

Don't forget the bookmarks! How many different bookmarks have you owned over the years? Better yet, how many different things have you used as bookmarks?!

BookCrossing is for Book Readers

BookCrossing is an international network of free, travelling books. Pick one up and pass it along.

Register a book you have read on the BookCrossing site. You don't need to buy the stickers and other accessories. Just write inside the book cover about BookCorssing, explain the book is free (not lost) and should be passed along to someone else. To register a book you just get an ID number for that book in particular. Now, anyone who picks up that book when you release it into the wide world will be able to go to BookCrossing and add themselves (and a review of the book if they read it) to the information which stays with that book and it's ID number on the site.

Ron Hornbaker began BookCrossing. With the help of Ron's wife, Kaori, and cofounders Bruce & Heather Pedersen, the site was launched on April 21st, 2001.