Is this the extent of the discussion forum that will be available to participants in The Big Read? That's pretty disappointing. Wouldn't a regular message board be better? There's no way to have an organized discussion, or to separate topics. What if I want to know where other people have dropped off books so I can go find one?

If there's another discussion area that I'm missing, my mistake, please point me to it. But if this is it, I think this fails to live up to the promise of the program. If you really want to bring a diverse audience together to discuss the book you have to create a forum where discussion can flourish. This isn't it.

I released books last saturday. It was fun trying to think of different places for people to discover them. I went into an ice cream parlor and left some on the tables. Since this store was near the library, the person returned it to the branch thinking a patron had left their book by accident. I guess they didn't read the bookmark telling them to keep the book and read it!
I left books at a busy Costco eating area and watched people pick them up. Some put the books back down. I guess they weren't their regular genre! No one chased after me to return the items so I guess they read the bookmark.
The last place I left books was a shopping area. I left some books in the child seat and some on top of the produce. I observed a book being taken out with the purchases..success!

I had much fun and am looking forward to releasing more!

I've written about The Big Read on my blog Happily Even After, and my readers are as confused as Amy (commenter above) about when and where community discussions will take place. I agree with Amy that this blog doesn't appear (as of yet) to be a good venue for discussion. But, as one of my readers pointed out, one of the themes of Fahrenheit 451 is the need to connect face to face with our fellow citizens--and so actual gatherings might be better than virtual. I personally would enjoy both.

I enjoyed D A L's stories of releasing the books. Sounds fun!

If someone from KCLS could make sure events are posted clearly on this website, and if they could get back to me (via my blog or email) with more specifics on dates/venues, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks!
Happily Even After

Thanks for your comments.

Our blog is meant to be a place to keep track of what's going on in the Big Read - updates on events, related news, photos - as well as a place for everyone participating in Find, Read, and Release to check back in. We'd love to hear the story of how you found your book and where you sent it afteward - please let us know in the blog comment section.

As to a more interactive online discussion forum, we'll look into adding this next year. For this year, we're hoping you'll find the more interactive book discussion you've asked after in some of our in-person events - these are detailed on www.kcls.org/thebigread.

Here is where we have left titles for
Find, Read and Release!

Kirkland Arts Center

Countryside Donut House

Price Brother Garage

REI

the Grape Choice

Bus 540

Studio Be Yoga

Value Village dressing room

Sea-Tac baggage claim

Issaquah Transit Center

Rose Hill Junior High

Kirkland Teen Center

Bench at Bellevue Square

Acupuncture clinic

Bus 255

Park Place cinemas

I placed Find Read & Release books in:

Starbucks - 2 locations in North Bend
Washington Mutual
Group Health - Eastside Primary Care
GHC - Lab
North Bend Post Office
Snoqualmie Post Office
Rock Creek Ridge Townhomes Leasing Office

It was fun following up and seeing if they'd been picked up - which they were!