As can be deduced from the photo above without too many Sherlock Holmesian skills, we have a lot of books in our house. While the photo doesn’t actually look that bad, you have to realise that it’s one corner of one room. I’m not saying any more because your mouth will gawp open, and your eyes will become circular as you realised the true extent of the problem.
Every fibre of our being tells us that we should look after, cherish, and covet the books we have read. It’s becoming a bit silly though - I fully anticipate at some point that they will start to cause the house to submerge into the ground. Books are heavy. We could quite feasibly think about writing the alternative screenplay to the new Pixar Movie “Up”, detailing the adventure of our descent.
With heavy hearts, we have begun to investigate Book Crossing. If you have not heard of it, book crossing is an idea where you register a book on the website (www.bookcrossing.com), and then release your book into the wild. Yes, that’s right - release it - off to have adventures all of it’s own. You might make this release in a coffee shop, in the window of a pub, on a park bench… anywhere really. The hope is that somebody else with a book problem (and lets face it, it IS a problem)will find the book, and discover the plate you have stuck inside the cover - requesting that they record the book’s ongoing journey on the internet, and re-release it when they have read it.
I think Book Crossing is a wonderful idea. Perhaps the best bit is that no money is changing hands; while we have spent quite a bit of money over the years on our books, it seems like a good thing to do - to afford those who might not be able to afford these books the chance of finding them. There’s the chance that somebody who doesn’t read might pick one of them up and start out on a journey of discovery.
Does Book Crossing turn us into some kind of “book pusher”? Perhaps. How about serial litterers ? I guess.
If you’re sat in a cafe, and spot a book on a shelf, or left on a chair, have a look inside the cover. You never know - it might be one of ours.