Have a look at this..
http://www.bookcrossing.com/home
It's a system whereby you put a sticker in a book that you have finished and you leave it around for people to find...on a bench , on a train etc.

That is a great idea, anything that gets people reading can't be a bad thing ... although I always have trouble getting rid of books, I like to hoard them! Actually the book where I got Conor's name from I found in a cafe, I wonder what he would've been called if I didn't find it?

Oh, Jillian! How about "Freebie"!

Sara, that sounds like a great way to share your good reads! I had handled this conundrum easily, because at my worksite (well, the PAST worksite!) we had a "free" library in the staff room. There were tons of books there, and all you need do was take one, and hopefully bring it back, with others from your "collection"! I have read many fine books that way which I would not have selected for myself...such as Clive Cussler!

Thank you for sharing this.

Oh, this is so way cool! I can't wait to release some books myself. I'm going to the library tonight anyway, and they always have a shelf of books for like 10 cents (old ones that they're trying to get rid of themselves). I'm going to snag a few of those and release them into the wild.

I've already told all my friends about this, so I have a feeling books are going to be flying all over the place!

Got a .75 hardback book off the library "to sell" shelf, registered it, and sent it out into the wild just a little while ago. Let's see where it ends up!

This is going to be such fun! It's the perfect way for people who love to read to get books out there for others to enjoy.

If you send a book out, let us know in this thread. And, if it gets picked up, tell us that, too!

That is such a great idea! It's just the kind of thing I like...now I'll have to go to that little shop a few miles away from my house and buy a dozen of their used, ten-cent novels!

*later* I just discovered the feature where you look up books "set free" in your area, as well as their exact locations. There's a hundred something in my city alone; I'm printing out the locations and dropping by a few:)

Yes, I notice that there are even three examples from here in Hong Kong, where NOTHING is ever free!

Wonder if it will catch on in France...I bet it won't. I had to donate about fifty books to my son's school library as they're starting an English collection but otherwise I had many books to donate and nowhere where they'd go to use.
Perhaps in cafés it would work here.
It reminds me of the bike scheme in some countries, a free bike you just park it and someone else takes it where they need to go.

I've already forwarded the link to a few friends and sisters. I've a few books at home I could release, and the tube would be a great place.

I'm excited already - and go Linda1!!!! Keep us posted on your fugitive.

Good idea for B&B houses and hotels too....

I just released 3 more books! No bites on the first one, but I'm still waiting.

I have 2 others that I want to release. But, when I got them home from the store, I found that I wanted to read them, too! So, I'm going to have to let them go after I'm through with them.

Anyone else set any books free yet?

Hee hee Linda! I don't think there is any law against reading them yourself first!

How cool is that!? At last, someone will get to read all the fantastic books I have that my family refuse to read!!

I love the idea, I am not sure that I would release any of my books as I read them over and over again.

As for the bikes Heather, we have had that scheme here and it didn't work, all the bikes go missing very quickly or failing that they get vandalised.

Back to the books - do you put the sticker on the front asking people to take it? If it is inside I can imagine them all ending up handed in to lost property offices:)

Well then I would assume the people at the lost property offices will have a read , and they can post in the website. I don't think it matters as long as the book is tracked .

I think they're suggesting that people put a sticker on the front that says something along the lines of "Free Book! Please Read Me!!" and than you stick the label with the details for tracking on the inside of the front cover....?

That's exactly what you do. Here's my method, if it helps anyone else!

You have to register the book and get an ID number. They have labels that you can print out on the site. Put the ID number on there. Basically, the label tells the next person to go to the website and log the book in.

I put a note on the front of the book that says something to the effect of "I'm not lost! I'm a free book for you to take! Log me into www.bookcrossing.com, read me and then set me free again for the next person to read!"

It is entirely possible that the book could end up in Lost and Found. It might not get logged in for quite some time. But, imagine how exciting it's going to be when someone actually logs it in! And, even more exciting when you see the book traveling all over the place! My one book could, conceivably, go all over the world! That's just such a cool thought!

Have you been to the website? You've got to check it out - it's wonderfully done. It answers a lot of the questions that you might have about releasing books. And, there's also a Leader Board where you can see people who are really successful! There are some people that have hundreds of books that have been successfully released!

I'm releasing 2 more books tomorrow. I set one free today.

I'm having great luck in getting books from the library that they are selling for 50 cents. I think it's overstock, and they are wanting to get rid of them. I can get several books, log them in (which is incredibly easy, by the way) and then set them free.

It's a blast, and I thank Ren for letting me know about this great activity. The whole world becomes a library - it's just way so cool!

My coworkers are getting the biggest kick out of watching me set books free, too! They're trying to think of more places for me to leave my books!

I registered all the books I have in my house (which is pretty much everything I've read in the last year or so), and am getting very excited at the idea of my first release!!

Ooooh! Tanzen, do it! It's fun!

Remember that there's a difference between a "handoff" and a "release to the wild" by the way.

If you give it to someone directly, it's called a "handoff." You don't make a note about it, but the other person logs it in.

If you just leave it somewhere (like in a coffeeshop or something), you make a release note and it's considered "in the wild." If you look under the Go Hunting link on the site, you can find other books that are lurking around your area.

When you get a chance, look at the Leader Board and see 4libros' success rate. It's great! And, I emailed her yesterday. She responded back, and she seems to be the nicest of people. Very modest. But, then, she's a reader. All readers are wonderful people. It's a requirement!

Someone picked up one of my books and logged it in!!!! This is so exciting! It's my first successful release, and I had to share it with y'all. Wow! What a great feeling it is. Now, if we can get that person to read it and release it. And, get the other books I've set free logged in, read, and released, we'll have it made!

YEA!

Tanzen, it's your turn now. I want you to have a successful release, too! I've been watching your bookshelf!

This is really a gret idea. But I think that someone bad can find the book and destroy it. You know - someone ho had drunk too much, or someone... I don't know. It is a big risk. And also - don't leave the books on a bench or anywhere in the open, because of the rain, the sun...
I adore my books and reading them several times. I have a really big collection and I can land some to friends, but to leave a book and never see it again - I'm not that kind of person. But I'll be the first one to congratulate you if you manage to make people read more!!!

Someone "bad" can always do something. A drunk person could hit your car or spill something on you at a restaurant or whatever!

I think it's a good idea if you have a lot of books that you would ordinarily want to get rid of anyway. Maybe too many cluttering your shelves or whatever. It's a great way of passing along a book that you love to another person, so they can love it, too!

Plus, you can always do a "handoff" to another person. You don't have to leave a book in the wild - it could be just giving it to a friend who then logs it in and passes it along to another friend. Kind of a book chain between friends. I've done this before, and it's fun! The difference in this is just that you add a label to the book, so everyone can log it in and see where it is.

Look at the Forum over there - it has a lot of questions and answers about releasing books. I think you'd enjoy it!

Wow, this IS a good idea! And they even set books free over here! Just found out that two books have been set free only 500 meters from where I live! I'll definitely have to go have a look tomorrow to see if they're still there...

Ok, I plan on releasing on this weekend. Probably "Love in a Time of Cholera" (Ok, I saw Serendipity!!). I'm also sending one to one of the American guys on the site and getting one back. This is so exciting!!