Free Books, Yo.

Just one class left, folks. It ends tonight when I turn in the final project and wrap up all manner of loose code, database tables, etc... Then it's back to Netflix, occasional blogging and reading actual BOOK books, as opposed to textbooks or technical manuals. Bleccch... although I have learned a ton taking this class and it can only help me down the line, even if it ends up simply being resume filler.

But back to the book books. Let it be known, here and now, that for the next two weeks or so, I will unashamedly and unapologetically turn trendy and jump on the trash lit bandwagon. Yes, that's right - I'm venturing into Dan Brown territory. In anticipation (or lack thereof) of this whole DaVinci Code movie, I plan on reading both Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code to see what all the hubbub is about. Then the plan is to follow that up with the film when it is finally released. Granted, I'm not all that excited to see it but I figure what the hell... I'm in the mood for something that doesn't require a whole lot of thought. Plus, it features Tom Hanks who is a likeable enough actor, and that chick from Amelie who I always thought was kind of cute. Besides, I'd rather give my money to those two as opposed to that reprehensible dumbass Tom Cruise and his third installment of the "M.I." series.

But first, I want to read the books. I always want to read the books. I'm like that with every big movie adaptation whether it be Harry Potter or The Outsiders. Sometimes I end up disappointed... sometimes not, but I enjoy the process... whatever that means. It also means I end up with lots of books. Now, I don't have a whole huge amount of books by most people's standards (I'm a big believer in libraries) but I have enough that I won't read again, and are doing nothing but taking up space. Thankfully though, I now have a way to get rid of them.

I was flipping through a magazine this weekend when I came across an ad for the Bookcrossing.com website which advertised a karmically gratifying way to get rid of some old books and pick up some new ones - all for free. It works much the same way Where's George and other sites of that ilk do... You login to the website and enter the name of a book you own. It will spit back a "book id" which you write on the inside cover or wherever along with the URL for the Bookcrossing website. Then you just go out and leave the book somewhere. Anywhere you want. With any luck someone will pick up the book, see the URL and message inside, log it and then either keep it or release it again (hopefully after reading it first.) Also, when you release a book you can indicate on the site where/when you have done so, so that someone else who's looking for that particular book can go get it. It's not as confusing as it sounds. Here's a link to a book released in Boston. You can see the relatively small path it's taken thus far.

Sound crazy? It kind of is, but I think I'm going to sign up anyway. Maybe someone else can get some use out of those books that I'm done with. If they eventually end up in the trash, well then it won't be on my conscience. At the very least, it will make my bookcase look more like a bookcase should, and less like a dumping ground. Now let's just hope someone wants to read up on Oracle 9i database structure...