Trial of Miles

There is time, he would tell them; time and time and time. He wanted to impart some of the truths Bruce Denton had taught him, that you don't become a champion by winning a morning workout. The only true way is to marshal the ferocity of your ambition over the course of many days, weeks, months, and (if you could finally come to accept it) years. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials. How could he make them understand?

-- Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.

clear, turquoise color

My first feeling was a wild desire to drive a stake in the sand and claim the place for myself. The beach was white as salt, and cut off from the world by a ring of steep hills that faced the sea. We were on the edge of a large bay and the water was that clear, turquoise color that you get with a white sand bottom. I had never seen such a place. I wanted to take off all my clothes and never wear them again.

-- The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

through a crack

One Monday morning I was awakened by what sounded like children being butchered outside the window. I looked through a crack in the shutter and saw about fifteen tiny Puerto Ricans, dancing on the sidewalk and tormenting a three-legged dog. I cursed them viciously and hurried up to Al's for breakfast.

-- The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

usually it was rum

He seemed honest enough with me, and in those rare moments when he relaxed I enjoyed him immensely. But it was not often that he dropped his guard, and usually it was rum that made him do it. He relaxed so seldom that his natural moments had an awkward, childish quality that was almost pathetic. He had come so far from himself that I don't think he knew who he was anymore.

-- The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

drunk, dirty and no more

... and the best that can be said of that staff is that they were a strange and unruly lot. At best they were unreliable, and at worst they were drunk, dirty and no more dependable than goats.

-- The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson

laughing at where

'You were laughing at where I work.'

'So? You do!'

'Yes, because I work there. I'm laughing in the face of adversity, you're just laughing in my face!'

-- One Day by David Nicholls

BookCrossing: Room

I wanted to wild release Room but I was slightly hesitant. It's a popular book and I wanted it to find an appreciative reader. It's a hardcover and there was a threat of spring rain. I decided to release Room onto a sheltered public bookshelf and I'm glad I released it when and where I did because it sure did find an appreciative reader, or at least an appreciative finder as there hasn't been a post-reading update since the catch was made last July.

Here's the bookshelf:

And here's the catch:

This is my first book crossing book. I loved the film, and as I usually enjoy the books more than I do the films that are based on the books I was ecstatic when I saw this in the little "take a book, leave a book" house in front of the Port Moody Arts Centre. I am going to begin reading the book tonight and will let you know what I think of it, and then I will pass the book on.

BookCrossing: Last Summer At Barebones

There's not much to say about this catch, so first allow me to mention that you can see a list of all the catches from my BookCrossing wild releases – which also includes links to the books at BookCrossing – by clicking here. There we go, thank you for allowing me to do that. Back to this specific catch..

Last Summer At Barebones was released inside a Georgia Straight newspaper box one Vancouver evening in January 2016 and was captured from said box the next day, according to the journal entry that was made a few days later.

Here's the catch:

Went to get a Georgia Straight out of the box the afternoon of January 3rd, and was delighted to find this book waiting there. Looking forward to what looks to be a good read!

BookCrossing: Man Crazy

As of today, of all the books I've wild released and have also heard back from, Man Crazy has stayed in the wild the longest, for a total of 2,910 days – almost exactly 2.5 times as long as my second longest in-the-wild book, Daughters and Mothers. (You can see how I copy-and-pasted from that post from earlier today!) Daughters and Mothers was in the wild for 1,195 days.. 1,195 X 2.5 = 2,987.5

I released Man Crazy at Vancouver's PNE in August 2006 and it remained MIA until August 2014 when this journal entry was made:

I found this book today on the Bargain Books shelf (donated books) at the Richmond Public Library (Brighouse Branch) and I bought it for twenty-five cents. I was delighted to find this book. I really enjoy Joyce Carol Oates' writing. A few years ago, I met her at the Vancouver Public Library when she was on a book tour to promote her non-fiction memoir: "A Widow's Story". After she read out a part of her book, I bought a copy and got her to sign it. Since then I have been reading her books which I mostly get from the library. She is a prolific writer and even though she is in her seventies, she is still writing books. I particularly liked "We were the Mulvaneys". I am looking forward to reading this book.

BookCrossing: A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali

I released A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali on a gummy day in June 2014 and a journal entry catch was posted before I had a chance to do release notes.

The catch:

I found the book this morning outside the Vancouver Art Gallery. Looking forward to reading it and I'll leave it in the next city to which I travel. Perhaps on my next trip to Idaho!

Then a year and a half later a short new entry:

San Francisco is not listed in "City"

BookCrossing: Daughters and Mothers

Somehow I forgot to continue posting my catches from wild releases, even though I was occasionally doing excerpts from books I've been reading. Therefore, this is the second catch-post of the day and there might be more to come.

As of today, of all the books I've wild released and have also heard back from, Daughters and Mothers has stayed in the wild the second longest, for a total of 1,195 days, barely beating out In the Green Star's Glow's 1,163 days.

Daughters and Mothers was released at Seattle Premium Outlets near Tulalip Resort Casino in September 2010 and the following journal entry was made in December 2013:

been holding onto this book for a while (apparently longer than i thought based on its original release date, oops) been meaning to read it, but haven't gotten around to it seeing as its a sequel in a series and im a stickler for reading books in order. so instead of keeping in any longer in hopes of getting around to it i will be releasing it back into the wild soon.

BookCrossing: The Book and the Brotherhood and The Sisterhood

Two books in one post because they were released together and they were caught together. How could I not release those two books together – look at their similar titles!

Both journal entries were similar as well, with identical beginnings and different endings. Here's the beginning both entries shared:

Picked up from the bench at Lafarge Park. I knew about this because of the email alerts from last night, so I went out around 1 pm today to see if it was still there, and it was! When I first found them, there was a family sitting beside the books (there were 2) on the bench, so I walked around the lake, hoping they wouldn't take them, and when I got back they were still there alone! I'm probably a little too excited about the idea of this site, but it seems so fun!

Here's the ending to The Book and the Brotherhood's entry:

Book sounds interesting, if a little outside my usual genres, but I'll give it a shot!

Here's the ending to The Sisterhood's entry:

Not sure about this book, but I'll give it a try. Might be more the taste of a friend of mine, though, so I might pass it along to her!

It seems the person who caught those books – way back in September 2012 – was a fairly new BookCrossing member who has since deactivated their account, with those two books being the only books on their shelf. That's too bad, because I really liked their enthusiasm for the website.

mysterious as a secret

 Her enthusiasm was infectious and I soon lost myself in the excitement of the moment, ignoring my original reasons for wanting to explore the tunnels. There is nothing quite so delightfully mysterious as a secret in your own backyard.

-- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

hide their feet

"You can tell a lot about a person by their feet," he mused. "Some men come in here, smiling and laughing, shoes all clean and brushed, socks all powdered up. But when the shoes are off, their feet smell just fearsome. Those are the people that hide things. They've got bad smelling secrets and they try to hide 'em, just like they try to hide their feet."

He turned to look at me. "It never works though. Only way to stop your feet from smelling is to let them air out a bit. Could be the same thing with secrets. I don't know about that, though. I just know about shoes."

He began to look through the clutter of his workbench. "Some of these young men from the court come in, fanning their faces and moaning about the latest tragedy. But their feet are so pink and soft. You know they've never walked anywhere on their own. You know they've never really been hurt."

-- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss