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AnonymousFriend

From Wantirna South, Victoria Australia
Age 81
Joined Saturday, October 29, 2005
Recent Book Activity
Statistics
4 weeks all time
books registered 22 3,833
released in the wild 52 4,842
controlled releases 1 360
releases caught 11 1,220
controlled releases caught 0 325
books found 52 1,479
tell-a-friend referrals 0 56
new member referrals 0 19
forum posts 0 17
Extended Profile
I brought a book back from USA to Australia in June 2004 and got a few people started into BookCrossing. Now I have finally joined instead of staying as Anonymous Finder. So, eris-in-oz and djt, YOU CAN STOP NAGGING!
I looked for the best photo of me and found this one, taken when I was at my prettiest at age 5 or 6.
I have kept track of all books read since 1956 and of those read prior to 2004 already 30 of those I owned, have been registered and more to come!
In these 50 years I have read only 1,578 books, not counting texts, short stories from magazines, Schoolgirls' Own Libraries, etc. The most read in one calendar year was 130 in 1974, mostly from the local library. The poorest year was 1970 with only 6 books, but I did have a new house and 2 very small children.
"I cannot live without books," once said Thomas Jefferson.

I have always prided myself in finishing any book I start no matter how uninteresting it may get. However, there is one exception: About 40 years ago I was trying to read Bunyon's "A Pilgrim's Progress" and got only just halfway - it was the most boring book imaginable. In the last 10 years I have wallowed in secondhand books as well as my usual new ones, and have read quite a few unusual books, some more interesting than others. Now I find I have more books at home than I can read, so am releasing ones I think I will pass, but a few at a time. So some of my TBR books may become AVL if anyone wants them.

In 2023 I managed to release 334 books and still have 168 ready to read and release. I only managed to read 54 books of which 8 were not registered. The plan of thicker books did not work for long, some were read, others just released. I will just keep battling on and get as many read and released as I can.
In 2022 I managed to release 277 books and have 183 on hand and of these 14 are ready to be released. I managed to read only 83 books from 42 different authors, of these 7 are not registered on bookcrossing. Next year I plan to read as many of the thicker books on my shelves as I can.
In 2021 I managed to release 303 books and have on hand and of these 22 are ready to be released. I managed to read 107 authors/books of which 4 are not registered on bookcrossing. I discovered authors on my shelves that had been waiting to be read. Next year I plan to read 2 books each by as many authors on my shelves as I can. Will this get me to 200?
In 2020 I managed to read 90 books of which 7 are not registered on bookcrossing. Having to stay home so much, I thought I would read more but not being able to visit all my favourite BC zones, I only released 152 books and have 210 on hand and of these 70 are ready to be released. I have been registering books from my shelves as well as books given me by friends. Next year I plan to read a different book by all the authors on my shelves but will this get me to 100?
In 2019 I managed to read 75 books of which 6 are not registered on bookcrossing. I released 314 books and have 209 on hand and of these 73 are ready to be released. I have been finding some little street libraries and plan to visit more of them for releasing.
In 2018 I managed to read only 73 books of which 70 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. I am continuing to cull my personal library so managed to release a total of 255. I will continue in this vein in 2019 to cover as many of my books from my TBR shelf as I can, but there are still 125 registered books I have to release.
In 2017 I managed to read 76 books of which only 2 are not registered on bookcrossing. I found books and registered many books clearing them off my shelves, and so managed to release a total of 379 in all of which 288 were registered by me. I have 106 registered books waiting to be released of which 40 I still have to read.
In 2016 I’m ashamed to admit that I only managed to read 47 books of which only 2 were not registered on bookcrossing. I continued with the old numbers from my TBR mountain, and releasing books which were newer registrations to make a total of 217. So I managed to clear quite a lot from my shelves, but I have to admit I did buy some more books too. I must stop spending so much time with online sudoku.
In 2015 I only managed to read 51 books of which 47 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. I continued with the old numbers and releasing some books which were newer registrations to make a total of 250. It has been an eventful year for me and the interstate move took up a lot of time, especially trying to downsize by eliminating not just books.
In 2014 I managed to read 115 books of which 100 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. It was good to start reading the old numbers as I found some pleasant surprises. I released some books which were newer registrations to make a total of 254. I will continue in this vein in 2015 to cover as many of my books from my TBR shelf as I can.
In 2013 I managed to read 126 books of which only 6 are not registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. I enjoyed my alphabetic releasing for books as I cleared some off my shelves, and managed to release a total of 391 as part of my challenge. For 2014 I have sorted all registered books in my possession by BCID (after the -) and will read them in that order and release as ready. Any sundry availables can be released between the sequence which is mainly to clear my TBRs.
In 2012 I managed to read a new record number of 142 books of which only 2 are not registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. I enjoy my monthly themes for releasing books, and managed to release a total of 387 as part of my challenge. I have created a new set of monthly themes for 2013 but actually they will be alphabetical by title, so A for January, B and C for February, etc and I will number releases for the year.
My own Bookcrossing Challenge 2012
I will release books according to monthly themes in the title:
January: Reading (book, letters, reader, newspaper, etc - released 37
February: Weather/Time (cloud, season, rain, shower etc) - released 35
March: Occupation (ringmaster, broker, etc) - released 28
April: Arts (music, painting, dancing, etc) - released 26
May: Light/dark (sun, shadow, moon, black, white etc) - released 33
June: Anywhere (land, where, etc) - released 44
July: Fire (flame, ash, burn etc) – released 28
August: Medical/body (medical, bones, eyes, etc) – released 42
September: Ownership with apostrophe in the title (someone’s item) – released 39
October: Any item/person (wildlife, object, something etc) - released 40
November: Fantasy (gnole, dragon, etc) – released 14
December: Fun/games (fair, colours, balloon, games, etc) – released 21

In 2011 I managed to read a new record number of 137 books of which 133 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. I enjoy my monthly themes for releasing books, but only managed a total of 301 as part of my challenge. I released some books which did not fit a theme and have created a new set of monthly themes for 2012 but not as a challenge. I plan to number my releases for the year instead, not just those which fit the theme.
My own Bookcrossing Challenge 2011
I will release books according to monthly themes in the title:
January: Zodiac (gemini, scales, archer, etc) - released 8
February: fish/reptile (frog, shark, snake, etc) - released 15
March: travel (train, bus, plane, tourist, wheels, etc) - released 27
April: person (girl, child, man sister, etc) - released 48
May: mystery (mysterious, etc) - released 13
June: plants (flowers, trees, leaf, rose, etc) - released 23
July: law (judge, jury, trial, witness, etc) - released 26
August: structures (bridge, gate, room, house, etc) - released 33
September: activity (run, sleep, read, etc) - released 30
October: city (London, New York, etc) - released 28
November: birds (jackdaws, birdman, etc) - released 22
December: heavenly (angel, saint, Eden, etc) - released 28

In 2010 I managed to read 117 books of which 109 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. I enjoyed my monthly theme challenge to release books, a total of 381 as part of my challenge. I released some books which did not fit a theme and have created a new challenge for 2011 to cover as many of my books as I can. The hardest bit is reading them in time to release in the right month and so some books have to be moved to future months!
My own Bookcrossing Challenge 2010
I will release books according to monthly themes in the title:
January: “Murder” - released 8
February: Calendar - released 24
March: Part of Body - released 32
April: Any colour - released 19
May: Any animal - released 28
June: Maths/Computers - released 45
July: “Poison” – released 5
August: A girl’s name – released 24
September: Any food – released 34
October: Geography - released 74
November: Feelings – released 50
December: “Death” – released 18

In 2009 I managed to read 102 books of which 75 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. Actually one book is not quite finished but will be soon. I enjoyed using a monthly theme challenge to release books in 2009, which made me look at the books in my TBR collection, so am creating my own challenge for 2010. Note that I start with murder and end with death and do some poison in the middle. Yes, I have a lot of thrillers on my pile!
I did it! In 2008 I managed to read 100 books of which 60 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. There were a few thinner books, but I shall improve on my total in 2009. I’m still reading many murder mysteries but there were other adventures, histories and fantasies, some better than others, including a few tear-jerkers.
I failed to reach my goal! In 2007 I only managed to read 97 books of which 71 are registered on bookcrossing by various people including myself. I’ll have to read thinner books in 2008. Many of those I read were murder mysteries and from one of them I quote the following. “A murder mystery is the normal recreation of the noble mind”, some sage once said. I feel very noble now!
Another year of reading has finished and in 2006 I only managed to read 85 books, of which 61 are registered on bookcrossing, some by myself, some by others. I've managed to release quite a few and find a few as well. Now my New Year's resolution is to read more than 100 in 2007 and keep releasing and hunting.
In 2005 I read 78 books of which 33 are registered on BookCrossing.
In 2004 I read 71 books of which 7 are registered on BC.

 


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