BookCrossing: The Open Door

So many of the books I release are books I have not read, but I still get a thrill when a journal entry is made on a released book. I've released probably a dozen or so books at Seattle Premium Outlets in Tulalip, WA, and have received some good journal entries. The shopping area is visited by mostly by tourists, and an incoming journal entry will say either that the book has been taken to a faraway land or that the book is back in British Columbia. I've released fewer books at Bellis Fair Mall, which is a little north of Tulalip. In fact, I think my only releases there were when I released The Open Door and one other book on November 28. Which means on March 15 I got my first ever Bellis Fair catch! And it's a good one, made by someone in Hollis, Alaska:

My daughter in Custer, Wa. found the book on a mall bench and was amazed! At first she was worried someone had left a great book, being a bookworm she was sorry for them! She loved the book, the whole idea and mailed it to me in Alaska. I loved this book. It was so much like the Catherine Cookson books I read long ago. This one especially struck a cord with me regarding the character having to overcome so much just to live, get so caught up in success she couldn't live and then finally succeeding in all. Just a wonderfully fine read.

BookCrossing: Kaleidoscope

A catch for Kaleidoscope came in on February 27! It's reassuring, because (as I wrote in the book's release notes) I wasn't entirely sure that that was the book I released. The catcher is a new member and put me as the referring member - I've now amassed 24 new member referrals. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I released the book way back in November of 2009 (man, those were the days) and the book was in the wild for a total of 99 days before this journal entry was made:

I found this book in the i hop and it was a great page turner.

all was hush'd

I find a letter in the mailbox. A single sheet of paper is inside. Written out by hand is a careful description of a man slowly drowning. It is (I look it up) from Byron's "Don Juan, Canto the Second."
And first one universal shriek there rush'd,
Louder than the loud ocean, like a crash
Of echoing thunder; and then all was hush'd,
Save the wild wind and the remorseless dash
Of billows; but at intervals there gush'd,
Accompanied by a convulsive splash,
A solitary shriek, the bubbling cry
Of some strong swimmer in his agony.

-- You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr

The poem's text may be off a little from how it actually appears in the book. I was reading this section while in a car in Malaysia, and figured I could just look up the poem at home. Well, the two versions I've looked at are very similar - just one small word differed. The one that appears above is from this page.

BookCrossing: High Country

A catch came in while I was in Malaysia; I noticed it while making release notes for books released in tandem with starbytes. It's taken me until now, a day short of four weeks after arriving back home, to post it. Hey, as I said in a recent post, I'm trying furiously to play catch-up while also tending to non-book stuff. So stop giving me so much guff! As with the last catch I posted here (Fine Things), I released High Country at the shopping outlets in Tulalip, WA. Just like most catches that come from Tulalip releases, this book found its way back to Canada. Here's the catch:

Found on a ferry crossing from Victoria BC to Vancouver BC. Travelled to Phoenix with me where I had intended to release it but I didn't finish it until flying home. I will set the book free in downtown Victoria in the near future. The book started slow with kind of an unbelievable premise but got much better. I could see this turned into a made for TV movie.

it's his kid

It's his kid," David says to her, leaving it, turning away.

She replies, "David, it's his kid." A rewrite of the line. A strong rewrite - with merely a change of stress she has retained the original dialogue yet fundamentally redirected its meaning and, neatly, the entire thrust. Ellie make a lot of money doing this.

-- You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr

Step in or not step in. It's a delicate area. Support. Share ideas.

eliminate the impurity

(And he then realizes that the boy from La Jolla turned him in to the authorities. He marvels for a second at the swiftness of the boy's instinctive reaction: Discover the impurity; eliminate the impurity.)

-- You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr

This is my favorite passage from the whole book. Simply beautiful. I both started and finished You or Someone Like You while in Malaysia (after finishing Catch-22), and the book is now with starbytes. I took some notes to post on here and on BookCrossing once I got home, so I'm now playing catch-up in a staggered manner.