Sole Survivor by Ruthanne Lum McCunn

Bookcrossing 101: Bookcrossing Basics.

It’s time to introduce you to my other great time-waster (I mean hobby), bookcrossing.com. The term Bookcrossing, added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in August 2004, is defined as “the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.”

People like to explain it as the “Where’s George” of books. You register a book at the site, put stickers and markings in the book with its unique ID number, and leave it in public. Hopefully, someone who loves books will come upon it and write a journal entry for that book online. Less likely is the possibility that they might continue the book’s journey by leaving it elsewhere.

“Releasing” a book is nerve-wracking. You feel like you’re doing something surreptitious and wrong, but really you’re just leaving a book somewhere. People do it all the time by accident, right? Getting a “catch,” however, is worth all the effort.

Sole Survivor was the first book I released that was “caught” and journaled by a kind book lover. It’s the true story of Poon Lim, a second steward and the only survivor of the British ship Benlomond, which was torpedoed on November 23, 1942 off the coast of South America. His 133 days of survival on a wooden raft is still the longest recorded survival story in modern history. I’ve worked with author Ruthanne Lum McCunn on other projects, and she is not only a gifted writer, but just a really nice lady to boot. You can read about the book’s short trip here.

Sole Survivor by Ruthanne Lum McCunn

tags: books book reviews bookcrossing shipwrecks Ruthanne Lum McCunn