Note: I am reposting this from last night. Sorry, but I really like the idea and I think there were only like 2 people online last night.
Want a simple and inexpensive way to spread the democratic philosophy? Start Bookcrossing.
There's a fun and interesting discussion on 25 Books or Movies that Made Me a Democrat. Newsie8200 made the comment:
GOP targets churches; Dems target book clubs, movie clubs, etc.
Join a book club and suggest subversive books! Slip in some pro-Democratic rhetoric into the book discussions, and maybe you'll have a few new Democrats. Add & stir :-)
Thank you Newsie8200, you gave me an idea I really like and will begin to implement.
I am a member of a group called Bookcrossing.com. Sad to say, that although I loved the idea, it's been a tough year and I've not been an active member.
From their site:
What is BookCrossing?
bookcrossing
n. the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
(added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in August 2004)
You've come to a friendly place, and we welcome you to our book-lovers' community. Our members love books enough to let them go--into the wild--to be found by others. Book sharing has never been more exciting, more serendipitous, than with BookCrossing. Our goal, simply, is to make the whole world a library. BookCrossing is a book exchange of infinite proportion, the first and only of its kind.
Let's get right down to it. You know the feeling you get after reading a book that speaks to you, that touches your life, a feeling that you want to share it with someone else? BookCrossing.com gives you a simple way to share books with the world, and follow their paths forever!
It's pretty simple. First, register a book you'd like to be more widely read at Bookcrossing. Then label it with the ID and information telling the finder that this book is free to whoever would like it. This can be either handwritten or on labels you have printed or bought. Some have even suggested that "putting a bright Post-It note on the front of the book, with a bold hand-written `FREE BOOK! LOOK INSIDE!' or `I'M NOT LOST - PLEASE READ ME! DETAILS INSIDE!' helps get your book noticed."
Now leave the book somewhere. It could be at a restaurant, on a park bench or even in the dairy section of the grocery. Then, if the person who finds the book registers it and passes it on, there is a record of where the book has traveled.
I love the thought of doing this with books I want more people to read. It occurred to me that this would be a great way to expose more people to ideas other than those expressed by Rupert Murdoch.
Even if you don't want to do it through Bookcrossing, consider doing this on your own. The hard part will be parting with the books. I'm rather attached to mine, but they can do more good out in the world than they can on my bookshelves.