Can A Book Change Your Life

Sometimes you just want to say "well ok it's just a coincidence". Other times maybe not. So this is what happened.  Returning home from a 24 hour golf day out of town in the Red Deer area just north and east of Calgary on Sunday morning I pick up the previous days local paper to catch up on the news. I find an article that I like called "Why That Book Changed Your Life" here is the link. Why That Book Changed Your Life. As I said finding the article of interest I placed it on my desk to read in depth later. Some time later I checked the Hobo Tomes e-mail box for any news. This what I found was there: "Found "Sweet Thursday" by John Steinbeck at Confederation Park in Calgary, AB on or around August 10, 2011.  Felt like I won the lottery!

Love the book, love the project!  Keep up the great work and I will let you know where/when I release the book into the wild.

Thanks for a special day!" And then later last night this arrived:  

"Just released it after a fine read on a long holiday!  Sweet Thursday was left at a bus stop on Rideau Street & Waller in Ottawa, Ontario at Midnight on August 28, 2011.  Very much enjoyed what is my first Steinbeck novel but certainly not the last.  I don't believe in coincidence and the timing of finding this book was absolutely priceless for an aspiring writer.  Thanks again". Whether or not finding and reading this book will be life changing for this person only this person can answer but it's great to have had a small part in making it happen. Just another positive impact reading can have on our lives.

This is the second time I've strayed from the lengthy blog I have been working on to address some interesting stuff. I'll get it posted soon. I need to escort some wandering books out west to Vancouver at the end of the week so I may not get the blog finished. Keep your eyes open for new reading experiences and maybe you to can have a life changing episode.

Is There Anybody Out There?

Another month or so drifts by and a number of books have made there way out into the world to some far away places and some more near to home. Check out "Where Are They Now" for the list and locations. We are now over one hundred wandering tomes looking for temporary sanctuary in hands of those who love to read. The response to my plea for those who find our friends to e-mail their whereabouts to me has been underwhelming to say the least. When I first started this project back in January of this year I hoped to get a 10-15% response rate. As of today I have received only 3 e-mails which is far below my expectations. Although in speaking with someone who has been involved with a similar project for over 5 years they informed me that they had not one response in all the time spend in that program. So this lack of contact about the whereabouts of these hundred books or so leads to number of questions. Are the books being picked up? I would say most definitely. I will often hang around the area that I have left books to see what happens and most often the book is picked up with minutes of being left on its own. In one case I watched as on person picked up three books I had left in close proximity to each other. Are the instructions on the sticker too vague or unclear? I've had people review the instructions and the feedback I have gotten is that the the directions are fine, although in English and some books have been left in countries where English is not the dominant language. Are the books being read? Since the major goal of this project is simply to get people engaged in reading I can only hope that since the response rate is so low that people are picking up the book and either leave them laying around at home until they find time to read it. Which may explain the lack of responses. People haven't had time to sit down and read the book then pass it on and let me know. At least the books are getting into peoples hands. What happens after that I have no control over. I'm sure there are other reasons for such a low contact rate but not to be discouraged we will continue to send out books on a regular basis. I now have a number of people who are assisting me in this endeavour by relocating books to other countries as they travel the globe. So keep your eyes on the "Where Are They Now" link as there will be some hobo tomes ending up in some very unique places within the next few months. Later next week a bunch of the gang have indicated that they will embark on another trip to Vancouver to escape the upcoming cold weather that will engulf us here in Calgary sometime in the fall. So if you're travelling along the TransCanada Highway during the September long weekend you may come across one of our wayward waifs looking for a new home. Let me know if you do.