Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Giveaway - Day 1

I roped Clare in to be a Book Fairy with me for my first day of the challenge - we left ten books on benches in our nearest park saying 'Enjoy and pass on', timing it just before the school run when the park fills up with parents and children. We tried to be as secretive as possible ...






...but I'd only been back half an hour when another friend rang to say her lodger had come back with one of our books and she'd known straight away I'd be involved. What is it about giving things away that feels as if you're doing something wrong? Clare and I were trying to work out what the opposite of a robber is.

And now two hours later I've just been back to the park and all the books have gone. It's a nice feeling, being an un-robber.

8 comments:

Caroline said...

That is SUCH a great idea and a really really lovely thing to do.

You should both feel very warm inside :)

You are nice un-robbers.
x

Nik Perring said...

Yay, good for you! It must be like being some fabulous Book Fairy. Really, really fab idea.

Nik

Clare said...

I was amazed at how fast the books went!

But I was scared a policeman would come and ask me what I was doing. I was going to say: 'Sarah Salway told me to, Officer.' and then run away.

Kathryn said...

I've been Freecyling for a while now (I think that makes me a 'Freecylist' which sounds awfully energetic or not maybe because it implies a lack of pedalling) but covert giving away sounds like sooo much more fun! I think that everyone should do it. Can't wait to hear the updates on how it's going.

jem said...

That's what I mean about that feeling of guilt - even though you are doing something nice.

I'm sure I would look and feel suspicious and guilty if I left post-its of writing around my town. I'm sure I'd get 'told off'.

I wonder if Banksy feels that way - perhaps he does, maybe that's why he's so secretive about his identity!

Sarah Salway said...

Jem, you could just copy Clare and say 'Sarah Salway told me to'... I really love to think of the mischief being carried out in my name!!!!
Thanks, Caroline and Nik, I keep feeling for wings but not they haven't appeared yet.
Kathryn, Freecycling is next, but I'm worried I'll end up filling my house with other people's cast offs. I might have to do it with my eyes shut!

Tania Hershman said...

What a great idea, I can just picture the two of you sneaking into the park and surreptitously slipping books into hedges and under benches. Are we allowed to ask which books??

Unknown said...

Do you know about Bookcrossing?
(http://www.bookcrossing.com/)

I've been 'wild releasing' books for years now (I don't like the controlled releases as much, where you leave them on a designated shelf, or send them to another Bookcrosser; where's the thrill in that???), which sounds like exactly what you've been doing, with the added bonus of sometimes hearing back about a book - even if it's years later.

One of 'mine' recently turned up in France, on Mont Saint Michel!

Actually, thanks for reminding me, I haven't released any books in a while, and there's a whole pile here waiting to get stickered and sent on their way...
I still get a pounding heart when I leave a book unobtrusively on a bench and walk away looking innocent!