By Burt Lum

Here a book, there a book, everywhere a book book. Honestly, that's the slogan of a Web site that has come up with a cool idea. It is called Bookcrossing.com, and it is a cross between Geocaching and Amazon.com.

The concept is straightforward. If you have a few books on your shelf collecting dust, why not release them and let others enjoy them? The idea of releasing a book into the wild and creating a treasure hunt takes reading to a whole new level.

The treasure hunt could be right in your backyard or could take you to the far reaches of our blue planet. I was surprised to see almost 400 participants already established in Hawai'i.

You can drill down even further to find books in your immediate area. As an example, I found several listings for Home Depot in Pearl City.

Assuming Home Depot is a Bookcrossing-friendly establishment, you might find a book called "The Man Who Planted Trees" in the garden department. The first thing that came to mind was: What if they think you're shoplifting?

Well, Bookcrossing thought of that already.

As part of the release procedure for any book, you need to give it a Bookcrossing ID or "BCID." This unique number is then put on a label that you can print up on your own printer.

You then affix the label on the book as an identifier. Bookcrossing provides all the necessary templates to print up labels, bookmarks and displays. The displays are used only at establishments that are official Bookcrossing Zones.

As a registered Bookcrossing member, you have a journal to chronicle your releases and finds. The trick is to find the right book at the right place — but I suppose it's also about the thrill of the hunt. ;-)

Burt Lum is one click away at www.roughtake.com.