Well, actually, here's the background on my idea: I've been buying books like there's no tomorrow for the past few years, because I've been blowing through them and have a real hard time with library due dates for some reason. This also makes it hard for me to move.
So, I think we should make a Hatrack "Book Circle." Here's how it works:
Everyone picks their favorite book (preferably one that's not notorious in these parts, not part of the general consciouness) and mails it to an appointed person. Everyone involved mails it to someone else, and they eventually come around to a circle. After a couple weeks, or whatever a resonable reading time is, we all mail again.
You'd have to use a copy that you wouldn't mind losing in the mail somewhere - maybe even buy an inexpensive used paperback that you can stand parting with.
This way, we get new books, and they pass the initial filter of being something well-beloved by a fellow Hatracker!
To avoid duplicates, we could require a sign-up email with the intended book title on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Anyone think this idea is doable?
[ February 07, 2005, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: Annie ]
Posted by Coccinelle (Member # 5832) on :
I love that idea! *signs herself up*
edit: I hope y'all don't mind reading Danielle Steel
[ January 13, 2005, 04:02 PM: Message edited by: Coccinelle ]
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Being required to read it within a certain span of time would put too much pressure on me -- I don't need another chore.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
That would be awesome. If it happens, I'm in.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I'm always trying to find people to give my books away to. My only criteria is that they go to someone who will appreciate them. So yeah count me in! Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
That sounds cool, Adam. I was all up for being the ringleader, but was thinking of using my meager paper-and-pen organizational skills. If you've got wicked database skillz, all the better.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
What if you set it up so that the reader returns the book (when they finish it so there is no time constraint) to the person who bought it (who then sends it to another person)? Does that make it too weird and uneven? Could we request a specific book (to be sent to us)? Maybe people could opt to supply multiple books?
I guess that makes it more like Hatrack spiders than a Hatrack circle.
Oh yeah, I think this would be cool and want to try it.
[ January 13, 2005, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: ludosti ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Maybe we should have all interested parties email me at blueroosterdesign AT googlemail-without-the-oogle DOT com.
I don't suppose you have to know your book title yet, but if you want first dibs, go right ahead.
Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
Here's my dilemma. I have like three tons of books that I have bought but not yet read. However, this sounds like way too much fun to pass up. I'm so torn! Maybe if we take ludosti's idea? Or modify it - when someone's finished, they could post/e-mail the group/whatever, and then pass their book along to another person who is done? That way if someone's got a full schedule one month, or if one of the books is a lot longer or shorter than the others, it won't be so much of a problem. Would that work?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
WHAT A NEAT IDEA! I want everyone to read Nausicaa!
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
And how about this - if you get a book you've already read, you have to write an essay on it!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I'd do that.
Posted by Lucky4 (Member # 1420) on :
I'm so in! Wonderful idea!
I think two weeks would give us enough time to at least decide if we'd want to read the book in the future. If you aren't done in time, you can always just run to the local library and check it out if you were enjoying it. No pressure to finish quickly, just a nice way to try out lots of books!
[ January 13, 2005, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: Lucky4 ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
The modifications might work, Vana, but I kind of want to be able to have the book you get be entirely out of your control. I want to have to read something that I wouldn't have picked by myself.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I need to practice writing essays anyway.
Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
Oh, I'm not suggesting we pick the book we get next! Just that it's looser on the times - whoever's done first can pass their books on first, and the slower/busier ones or people with longer/harder books still have time to finish. Maybe if we e-mailed you when we were done, instead of posting?
See, this makes sense in my head. Let me try to explain better.
Say A, B, C, D, and E are all in the circle. B finishes her book first, and e-mails you to say as much. The next day, E says that he's finished. So B would send her book to E. Soon C is done, and E sends his book to C. So you basically just send it to the next person in the line who's ready for a new book.
Is that a better explaination of what I'm thinking?
[ January 13, 2005, 04:19 PM: Message edited by: Vána ]
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
That seems like a good idea... except most of my books are in Romanian!! Lemme see though... In English I have:
- Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" - Gregory Benford's "Timescape" - Card's "Children of the Mind", "Ender's Shadow", "Shadow of the Heggemon" & "Shadow Puppets" - Haldeman's "Forever War", "Forever Peace" & "Forever Free" - Clarke's "Rama II", "Gardens of Rama" & "Rama Revealed"
I also have some SF books in French ("Blade Runner 2" by K.W. Jeter comes to mind) and volumes 2 to 10 of Zelazny's "Amber" series also in French. Most of them are at home in Romania though. And I'd have to send them from Europe. Great... I don't know, I'd really like this idea to come to life, but I probably couldn't be a part of it for some time... Drat...
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
You could always see if you could find a cheap used version of one of your favorite books that's still at home, Corwin.
And that makes more sense now, Vana. I was reading all silly.
I've gotta run for a couple hours, but email me if you're interested so I can start to work out logistics Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
It is a great idea, Annie, but i am terrible about sending things. I just sent people stuff i told them about five or six months ago. If i could do it on a no-pressure basis, it would be great.
Edit: A friend of mine and I did a book exchange, and I still have a box of books I never returned. Ten years. (hangs head in shame)
[ January 13, 2005, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Hobbes, look away!
Annie Corwin
Yeah, didn't think of that! The thing is that I have to locate a used book store that has English versions, which isn't very easy here... There are a lot of "independent" book sellers every Sunday along the Rhone, but I think all the books are in French. I'll give it a try though, if not this weekend then the next.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Sounds like fun! I'll need to find a supplier of used books in Tempe, though.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Shigosei!
Olde Towne Books. (I think, I will have to ask my dad.) The owner is an ASU history professor and one of our dearest family friends. Funny, I was thinking about telling you to go and meet him when i saw you live in Tempe.
He is more into really old and rare books, but you should go anyway. Please.
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Shigosei- There's a place called Changing Hands. It's on the corner of McClintock & Guadalupe in Tempe. To get there on the bus, you would go to the bus stop on College and take the 81 southbound. The bookstore is in the same shopping center as Trader Joe's.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Or you could just send all your French books to me, I'll swap them out for English ones and keep the French ones. Wait... that doesn't do much for limiting my stockpile of books, does it?
*has fond memories of shopping in Lyon along the Rhone*
*has fonder memories of eating in Lyon*
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Oh, I forgot you were in Tempe, Shigosei. My very very best friend just left to be a missionary there. If you ever by chance meet a female Mormon missionary named Sister Cronkhite, stop and talk to her for hours. She's fabulous.
Posted by vwiggin (Member # 926) on :
Maybe we can utilize book crossing to keep track of where the books are?
Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
I'd love to be involved, but I just don't think i'd be able to keep up with the commitment of reading all the books. And I'd feel bad.
But I think it's a really neat idea.
Posted by bunbun (Member # 6814) on :
I'm in.
Also, if anyone's interested in a one time book exchange, that might be neat, also.
You could list your "inactive" books--the things you're not reading now, and see who might be interested in a swap or donation.
I have many many many many books I could volunteer.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Elizabeth and Derrell: excellent. I'll try to make it out to those places sometime. Thanks for the tip.
Annie, I don't really see missionaries around here. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be allowed to knock on dorm room doors. But if I do happen to meet her, I'll stop and chat.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Old Town Books (I was right!) 518 South Mill Avenue, Tempe, AZ 85282, 480-968-9881, Used, out-of-print, old, and interesting books, including books on Arizona, Western Americana, and sporting books, are available at this book store .
Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
This sounds awesome. I haven't read the thread carefully enough (we have 6-year-old twin boys staying with us) - who is going to organize this? I have tons of books that I would love people to read.
I'll read the rules more carefully later, but put my name on the list.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
I'm in.
I'm also wondering, I don't have a ton of books at college with me and what I have that I could send consists of some really random stuff I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Would it be ok to send that? The books sound interesting, but right now when I'm in the mood to read I don't want to read something that requires thought. So I don't actually know if they're any good. I think hatrackers would at least enjoy looking them over, though.
Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
count me in as well!
My $0.02 - I think that the best way to do it would be the spider route, where we send the books back to their owners after finishing them.
Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
just for my own benefit, should it be harebrained or hairbrained?
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Put me on the list, and e-mail out the rules. I love random books.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Well, one would be the brain of a bunny. The other would be like a hairshirt, but in your head.
Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
just for edification porpoises..
quote:Usage Note: The first use of harebrained dates to 1548. The spelling hairbrained also has a long history, going back to the 1500s when hair was a variant spelling of hare. The hair variant was preserved in Scotland into the 18th century, and as a result it is impossible to tell exactly when people began writing hairbrained in the belief that the word means “having a hair-sized brain” rather than “with no more sense than a hare.” While hairbrained continues to be used and confused, it should be avoided in favor of harebrained which has been established as the correct spelling.
I sent you email, rivka.
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
poor Strider has way too many books on his reading list right now...as do i, but i'm bad at keeping to my reading list.
So sign me up!!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Jonny, received and replied.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
I'm in.
It might take a little longer for the books to get to me (and back to the US) though...
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I'm in...I hope some people like reading Fantasy here, it is just about all I have, unless I raid Jenni's trashy romance novels.
Of course you don't even have to read those, they are all the same...
Kwea
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
I could be in if you don't mind to spend a little money on the mail Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
Bumpity bump bump bump.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Oh - I forgot.
Let me get this organized and update you all later today.
Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
Haha! So cute. You're forgiven.
I was just thinking of this last night, actually. I'm excited!
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Me too.
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
I think I like the idea, but I don't like the idea of writting an essay. What if we get a book that we can't read (because of images that get put in our head) or for other reasons?
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
I'm so excited! Syn already sent me Nausicaa, and I loved it. I want to play, pretty please?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
quote: Bumpity bump bump bump.
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Heh. Annie has no brain.
OK - I'M OFFICIALLY STARTING THIS
Everyone who wants to sign up, send your name and mailing address to me at blueroosterdesign AT googlemail-without-the-oogle DOT com. You have until Wednesday Feb. 2 to sign up - after I have all the participants listed, I will organize and give further instructions.
(thanks for the bump!)
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Don't mention it. I don't think I will participate right now, but as I was scanning through older posts of mine I found this thread and decided to remind you about it. Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
You already got my e-mail earlier, right? Or do you want another one?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
I need a new one with your address.
Annie is right-brained, by the way. Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
I'd like to participate. Email has been sent.
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Annie, did you get my email?
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
Yep. Did you get my reply?
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
I just got it. Thanks for coming up with the idea. You rock. Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
OK, sorry I haven't gotten this going yet.
I think I'm going to have to pass on the leadership of this idea. I've just gotten very busy and I'm afraid I won't be able to give this the attention it deserves.
If anyone else is interested in running it, email me and let me know - I'd be more than glad to give you the sign ups and addresses I've received.
Sorry again! Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
bump
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
Annie, I think it's a good idea, but needs some tweaking. I've been thinking about a book exchange for the forum ever since we did a limited one at last year's WenchCon. Which reminds me, we need to do another book exchange at this coming Atlanta con.
The cons and smaller meetings between jatraquero's could be used to circulate books around without paying postage.
A circle path would be less than optimal. Some books would get inserted into the system that few would like, and would just get passed around, with people paying postage. Like those weird gifts the hobbits passed around in FotR--did Tolkein call them "mathoms"?
We should have a web-based system, with folks listing books they would make available, and requesting books from others. Some they would want back, others they might donate to the system or to some one person in the system.
Bookcrossing sounds like a possibility. Or Adam could set something up, as he suggested on the first page. After the initial set-up it probably wouldn't take too much time to administer, as people participating would do most of the record keeping online.
[ February 08, 2005, 04:49 PM: Message edited by: Morbo ]
Posted by Vána (Member # 6593) on :
Oh. Um. I completely forgot to come back here after I asked if you needed another e-mail from me.
And now I'm confused as to what I should do.
So, I'll wait! Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
quote:And now I'm confused as to what I should do.
Don't do anything. Unless you want to take over and be in charge, or make someone else take over and be in charge.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
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Lemme see though... In English I have:![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
Corwin![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Hat]](graemlins/hat.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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