***BOOKSHELF LEGEND***

Available Status: If this is set by me and not another BXer I have sent it on to, it is available for trade. Due to overzealous relaying I may decline an offer depending on the status of my funds. I do not trade with people who do not release. (Meaning: If your profile shows you tend to keep everything and rarely or never release books into the wild, don't bother to ask for a trade.)

To Be Read Status: Well, To Be Read means just that. These are not available for trade. I prefer not to reserve these for trades, as I don't care much for others dictating what I read next. My genre preferences change as often as my hair color lately and some books on my TBR I'm just not in the mood for at the moment but will be eventually.

Reserved Status: These are reserved for a purpose, such as a trade, RABCK or as part of a relay. These are not available in any shape, way or form. I normally note who I am passing onto, so if you feel you must have it, contact them.

Permanent Collection: I didn't see the point of this at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it is a great way to demonstrate my personal reading preferences. It's hard to tell sometimes what a person is into by what they are crossing, especially if they tend to release anything they can get their hands on, like me. I'm going to try to post a book from my permanent collection every day or so, just to flesh out what it is I consider read-worthy, and I hope that others do the same.

Bookcrossing Trades: Considering the low ratio of Releases to Catches, I am a big believer in trading Bookcrossing Books. If you see a book on my Bookshelf that hasn't been released yet and would like to trade a Bookcrossing Book for it, please feel free to ask. I'm pretty open to trying new things, so even if you don't have something I'm dying to read, you might have something I'm willing to take a shot at.

RABCK or not to RABCK: Here's where I tend to separate from some Bookcrossers. When I first found out that RABCK stood for Random Acts of Book Crossing Kindness, it was from someone asking me to perform one in their favor, and the request sort of threw me off guard. For me, the very act of Bookcrossing is in itself a Random Act of Kindness, so this seems a little redundant. Bookcrossers give out free books to friends and strangers alike, and do so with no desire for compensation of any kind, so why would this phrase even come about? Because some people, to be very blunt, are a bit too greedy. If someone saw that I had a BC Book in my possession and asked for it, I'd hand it over with a smile. But when somebody asks me to pay for postage and handling to ship them a book they want, without a trade, and expect me to eat the postage and packaging costs out of "Kindness", after I've already spent money on the book and labeling it with the intention of just giving it away, that just seems a bit rude and inconsiderate, and in a way taking advantage of the spirit of BC. So please don't ask me to RABCK, unless you plan on seeing me in person.

I try to give a review of the books I register, so if I haven't read them or if I'm not in my creative corner, I'll copy the blurb. The language of the journal is the language of the book.