Commerical Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Pass the word; BookCrossing Club offers volumes of reading opportunities

As book networks go, BookCrossing is uncomplicated.

The concept is "Read and Release" - read a book and pass it on. But there's a little more to it than that.

Members of the Internet-based BookCrossing organization ( bookcrossing.com ), also would like you to take a moment and register the book on their site, a neat way of tracking where any one of the more than 2.7 million books have been around the world.

The books, which are donated and may not be resold, have brought people together who have formed book clubs.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. As Victor Hugo wrote in "Les Miserables": Let us begin at the beginning.

Where does one find such free books to exchange?

One place is Bellamy's, a Cordova sandwich shop that was recently designated an official BookCrossing zone.

"We have customers who come in for lunch and read and eat," says Joyce Bellamy, who owns it with her husband Scott. So it seemed perfectly natural to put a few dozen books on a bookshelf near the entrance. The collection was started a few weeks ago by a local BookCrossing Club.

But books can be left in any public place - that's called a wild release - where someone might come along and pick it up. Recent pickups have been made at the Schnucks at Forest Hill-Irene, the Starbuck's at Poplar and Ridgeway, the IHOP on Goodman Road in Southaven and the Serra Chevrolet service department waiting room in Bartlett.

You'll know it's a BookCrossing volume by a curious label with a unique BookCrossing ID number and a message encouraging you to go to the Web site, register the number and enjoy the book. Then, you can leave it where you found it or most anywhere else for another book lover will come across it. The site will detail where the book has been in its peripatetic history.

The Bellamys are pleased to have their place in Trinity Commons be a center for book lovers. They've had the business for nearly four years but the restaurant business is a tough trade.

"I look at it as a God thing," Joyce declared. She told the BookCrossing members that she'd welcome inspirational material. "I told them I want children's books as well. It's a good way to introduce kids to reading."

Reading, registering and releasing can be an entirely solitary pursuit although there are those among the more than 400,000 members worldwide who enjoy getting together for coffee and a discussion.

The Memphis BookCrossing Club next meets at Bellamy's on March 11 at 1:30 p.m. They'll discuss "Hissy Fit" by Mark K. Andrews.

Margaret Cunzeman, a member of the local club, said, "We have members in Cordova, Bartlett, Collierville, Southaven and Olive Branch. BookCrossing is a neat way to read and share."

And no book ever goes unloved.

"We bring books to trade and if nobody is interested, somebody will take it anyway and release it in the wild."

- Jon W. Sparks: 529-2533

--------------------

Read and Release

The Memphis BookCrossing Club meets March 11 at 1:30 p.m. at Bellamy's, 694 N. Germantown Parkway. For more information, go to: http://bookcrossing.meetup.com/113/events/4852633/