Summary: In August 2004, a new word was added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary: "bookcrossing." Bookcrossing is the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise. For Ron Hornbaker, who had conceived of and launched BookCrossing in just one month in 2001, the addition was the gift of a lifetime. BookCrossing is a lively community of more than half a million book lovers who release books into the wild to be found by others. The site's goal is to make the whole world a library. This New Year's, we celebrate BookCrossing with founder Ron Hornbaker and three BookCrossers, including an author who has released his own books into the wild. Join us for this exciting celebration of books and booklovers as Ron, Steve, Vikki, and Clive discuss: * What BookCrossing is * How it came about * How it works * What places are best and worst for releasing books * What types of released books are the most popular * What some of the strangest release locations are * How long books travel * What proportion of released books end up being caught * How Clive has fared releasing his own books, and what he's learned in the process * What cool things you can do with BookCrossing.
