Last year, the noun ‘bookcrossing’ was added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary. It’s ‘the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.’

The website www.bookcrossing.com has turned this practice into a phenomenon, with 350,000 members ‘releasing’ 1.8m books. These books are registered on the website, and given a unique BCID (BookCrossing ID number).

BookCrossing members stick a label on the book then ‘release’ it for someone else to read by giving it to a friend, leaving it on a park bench or in a cafe, or donating it to charity.

The person who ‘finds’ the book is directed by the label to the BookCrossing website, where they can record where they found the book and what they thought of it, before repeating the process. One book, Apocalisse 23 by Michele Fabbri, has been read no less than 105 times.

There are 3,845 BookCrossing members in New Zealand – more than in some European countries – and the first local Bookcrossing convention took place in Christchurch at Easter. We'll be keeping a close eye on this fascinating practice and may even release a book or two of our own into the deepest, darkest Waitakere bush.

NB Check here for details about a book crossing to honour author and teacher Bronwyn Tate, who died on 25 February.