Today is my 10th BookCrossing Anniversary. In some ways it’s weird to realize it’s already been that long, but in others it feels almost as if BookCrossing has been part of my life for much longer. I have made many friends, read and released many books, and done a lot of things I probably never would have done otherwise – like, say, get stranded in Europe and take a road trip from Amsterdam to Switzerland and back stuffed in a VW Golf with an American, a Brit, and two Aussies. But that’s another story for another time.

It’s interesting how close I’ve gotten to my fellow BookCrossers, especially those in my local group, BCinDC. I count them among my very best friends. We’ve laughed and cried together, celebrated joys and attended funerals. We were brought together by this crazy hobby of leaving books for strangers to find, and somehow found a whole host of other things to tie us together.

Here are my statistics as of this writing:

• I have registered 1954 books.
• An additional 975 books, registered by others, have passed through my hands.
• 164 of my wild catches have been caught and journaled.
• I have met 220 BookCrossers in person (mostly thanks to conventions).

Here’s to many more book-filled years!