As I looked back on my previous WFMW posts, I realized that I had not posted one of my absolutely favorite things on the internet - Bookcrossing.com!

Bookcrossing is a wonderful site, especially for book lovers like me (and many of my blog readers ;-))! I’ll try to explain it as best I can, but you really should pop on over to the site and check it out yourself.

Let’s say I have a book (haha, understatement). I finished reading this book, and I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t completely earth-shattering, so I don’t necessarily want to keep it here on my bookshelf taking up precious real estate. I register the book on Bookcrossing.com. In doing this, the book is assigned a number (which I either write into the cover, or use a sticker to put it in - this seems more effective), and I write up my opinion of the book on the website, rating it with 1-10 stars. This book is now added to my virtual bookshelf. I can do several things with it. If I give it to a friend, then they can go online, see what I wrote, and make their own review. Now it’s on their bookshelf. Or, I could take the book and place it strategically on a table in Starbucks. By doing this, I’ve released the book into the wild, and whoever happens to pick it up becomes the new owner. Or I could go to an online trading site like PaperBackSwap.com and trade my book for another book, thereby passing my journaled book on to a new owner. There are tons of possibilities!

Why do this? Why not! You’re recycling books, and it’s really interesting to see where your books have gone. Some of my books are floating around in other countries, and I’m seeing lots of people with different opinions of the books that I read. I released a lot of books when we were on vacation in Europe, so that was really cool.

Bookcrossing also has a big community online. There are forums, groups, all sorts of ways to participate and communicate with other book lovers. There are lots of books that I have read that I never would have read had it not been for Bookcrossing, and I’ve found some great new authors!

I’m more than happy to answer any questions - I joined about a year before I actually started participating because it seemed like too much work, but once I got going, it has snowballed into something I have enjoyed so much.

Bookcrossing.com? Works for me!

It’s the Ultimate Blog Party, and it’s coming soon! I invite you all to join me as I party with those crazy moms at 5 Minutes For Mom during their week long blog party March 2-9.

Not only is it a party, but it’s a prize giveaway as well! Just head on over to their blog and sign the guest book (aka, Mr. Linky) by 12pm Eastern on March 8, 2007. If you invite your friends via a post on your blog and put up an invite button, then you are eligible for a prize! Prizes will be awarded on March 9. And if you look at their prize page, you’ll see that there is some great stuff listed! And if you have something to offer, they are still expanding their prize list - you have a month to get on board. What a great way to get the word out about your blog and who you are!

You’ll see the party there, here, and at blogs all over the blogosphere. So come on, and join us! Use this as an opportunity to meet some bloggers that you may not know, and to get your own name out there!

I just spent the past hour and a half chasing down every last reference I could find to something that I saw mentioned in passing on a website . . . The Baby-Sitters Club.

I LOVED these books. I was a member of the fan club, so I got three new books every month, and a newsletter, and all sorts of cool BSC fan-stuff . . . stickers, keychains, the works. I eventually owned all the books, and I had the movie (which I remember being disappointed in - my first book-to-movie disappointment!). I got Red Cross certified to be a baby-sitter, and I even tried to start up my own baby-sitters club (which failed miserably due to a lack of fellow baby-sitters).

Man, I was obsessed for YEARS. Those books came with us on vacation, out to dinner, to school - I remember my teachers telling my parents that I was reading them in class when I was supposed to be working (even though I’d finished my work). My parents had to put me on a “book diet,” monitoring how much I read. Now, keep in mind, I read LOTS of books, so this wasn’t BSC specific, but having over a hundred of these babies sure didn’t help.

I still remember when we donated my entire set of books once I was in high school. It still makes me sad to think that they’re gone, and even though I know that now others can enjoy them, a little piece of me still wants them for my own.

Did you read Baby-Sitters Club books? Or any others? The Boxcar Children and Little House on the Prairie books were also favorites ;-)!