found notes?
Like many of you, I am a loyal PostSecret follower. Not familiar with it? It’s a site where the blogger posts images of postcards emblazoned with secrets that have been mailed to him. Barring handwriting recognition, fingerprinting, or photo recognition, the submitters are virtually anonymous. This blogger eventually began publication of book collections of these secrets and they have been a huge hit. In addition to mailing in their secrets on postcards, a number of people stick their secret a la postcard inside these books for purchasers and in-store readers to discover.
Yesterday I received a book I had requested from the Bookmooch website. In a few words, it’s a book sharing website where you give away your unwanted books and request wanted books. There’s a point system involved to keep the book economy afloat, no money is exchanged as you pay postage to send books, but not receive. Inside the book was a pink slip of paper that read:
“I hope you enjoy the book!”
This is not the first note I’ve received in a Bookmooch book. I can’t find them at the moment, but a few others went something like:
“page 64 was thrilling for me!”
“not a favorite of mine, but I hope you like it”
I consider these slips of paper to be very thoughtful gifts. Have you received any such notes? Perhaps in a book from a used bookstore? A national retailer? A used textbook at your university?
I am intrigued by the note I received in my book, it could as easily have been passed along electronically in one of the notification/acceptance e-mails, but instead went analog. And, as far as I know, this note could have been from a previous owner. Perhaps it’s been sent along for a number of reader generations. There is apparently a following for found items, even a found item magazine! What have you found? Any favorites?
