Today I stopped by Java City to give the staff a “heads up” about some books being sent by BookCrossing user KimKerry. Good thing I showed up when I did, since the box had just arrived! The following books are now on the OBCZ bookshelf:
Thanks, Kim, for helping us keep the bookshelf filled!
Last Friday I heard a rumor that Java City was moving out of Modoc Hall. I’ve now verified that the managment is investigating this, and it’s highly likely that they will shut down operations in Modoc Hall at the end of the spring 2006 semester. I haven’t been able to get any information about what will happen to the space, especially with regard to the OBCZ.
I’ve already written several posts on BookCrossing, my local library, some of the books I’ve read, etc. So I guess the next pastime that I’ll remark on is reading. This one will be a bit trickier because there are several related (but distinct) tags that I use for these topics.
BookCrossing is a very cool idea: You read a book, stick a seemingly random number on the flyleaf (along with the BX web address), and leave the book where somebody is liable to find (and read) it. They can then go to the BX web site, enter the number from the flyleaf, and write a journal entry about the book. Then they leave the book where somebody is liable to find (and read) it, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth. To see the books I’ve released or found or whatever, check out my BX bookshelf.
If you don’t want to leave a book “just lying around”, there are organized crossing zones set up especially to collect and disseminate BookCrossing books. In fact, one of my co-workers and I set up an OBCZ in the building where I work. I stop by every few days to see what people are dropping off or picking up, or maybe just to have a cup of coffee and chat. I also post news about the OBCZ here from time to time.
I’ve written several posts about the Sacramento Public Library, especially my neighborhood branch, the Arden-Dimick library at Watt & Northrop. Sometimes these are book-related, but I’ve also posted about the library’s web catalog, the community room, or non-book media such as DVD’s.
Finally, since I did use the “book” tag on this post, I should write about one of the books I’m currently reading: Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. I’ve only finished Volume I so far, which covers Pip’s childhood and apprenticeship. When I last closed the book, Pip was in a carriage bound for London. I hope to finish this soon so I can discuss it with Joseph, before he forgets all the details!
Chyresse Lowther from KCRA may be doing an interview about BookCrossing. Presumably this would take place at the Java City/Modoc Hall OBCZ. I’d like to get the bookshelf well-stocked before it happens, so if you’re in the area and have some books to release, please consider dropping them off at the OBCZ!
I was just over at Java City in Modoc Hall, home of our official BookCrossing zone here at Modoc Hall. The top shelf is full to overflowing with BC books! Come by, get a cuppa and enjoy a new book or drop off an old one.
Update 2005-09-08 21:29:14: Ah, so that’s what happened! We received a box of books from siriradha yesterday, and the staff at Java City helpfully put them on the bookshelf! I’ve gone through the shelf and journaled 8 books to indicate that they have arrived. Hopefully that’s how many were sent!
siriradha is sending a box of books to the Modoc Hall/Java City OBCZ. Thanks, siriradha! These are being sent fourth class (media mail) from Colorado on Wednesday, 2005-08-31, so they might show up almost any time in September. (Media mail is handled whenever the post office feels like getting around to it, seem like.) As soon as they arrive, they will be journaled on the OBCZ bookshelf.
I found The Green Mile on the bookshelf at work a few days ago, just finished reading it late last night. I’ve never considered myself a Stephan King fan before because I always perceived him as a horror writer, a genre which doesn’t interest me in the slightest. But after reading this book, I started thinking about some of his other stories that I’ve read–Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (from Different Seasons), The Running Man (under the Richard Bachman psuedonym), and The Shining. Of these, only ‘The Shining’ really has much of a “horror” feel to it. I think I may have to pay a little more attention to this author, even if he is extremely popular–I hate following a fad, but in this case there may be a reason (other than marketing) for his wild popularity.
Books I’m going to look for by this author include The Dead Zone and The Stand, both of which are available from the Sacramento Public Library.
I’ve seen the movies based on all these books, except for ‘The Green Mile’. I read ‘Shawshank Redemption’ and ‘Running Man’ after seeing the movies, and liked both the movies and the books. I saw ‘The Shining’ after reading it, and was disappointed with the movie. This is almost always the case with me, regardless of author–as long as I haven’t read the books upon which they’re based, the movies stand well on their own, while the books add depth to the story once I get to read them. Because of this, I probably won’t see the movie rendition of ‘Green Mile’.
Back in October of 2004, Alicebird and I set up an OBCZ in the coffee shop on the ground floor of our building. Things were pretty hectic, and I somehow managed to forget the email address I had associated with the OBCZ’s bookshelf, which I was hoping to use to register books that were dropped off without BCID’s. Well, I finally managed to dig up the email address, which is effectively the “username” one needs to log in. (I did keep track of the password at least!) So this evening I updated the bookshelf profile with the street address, hours of operation and a map link of the location.
There were also three unregistered books on the shelf: Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, The Dead of Jericho, and The Green Mile. I registered all 3 of them to the OBCZ. I’ve been wanting to read The Green Mile for some time, so I figured it was a sign that it was sitting on the bookshelf–I took the book home, journaled it, and started reading!
nyisutter used to keep a list of crossing zones, but had trouble maintaining it. The torch has been passed to pachydomo. I contacted him with our OBCZ info and he added it to the California OBCZ finder page. I still need to do a little more work to get this crossing zone set up as well as I would like, but it’s a lot better than it was!
