Wild Release Catches

I'm not really counting the books I put on the convention table as "wild" release catches...but I just got my first 2 "real" wild release catches from the convention. I'll post my catches here...

An Unforgettable Woman released as part of the Reverse Scavenger Hunt
In the Kitchen with Rosie: Oprah's Favorite Recipes caught in the hotel by an anonymous finder

Day 4: Relayer's Dinner and "Live and In-Person" Swap

What a hoot!!! We had 5 swaps while at dinner at The Bowl! The swaps would have gone faster if we hadn't been waiting on SandDanz to update the swap info in WordPad. We got to pop Frinkiac-7's swap cherry! After dinner and the swaps, we released some books at a store called Seduction...SandDanz's blog has photos. We ended the evening at Just Desserts where NeedSun and CheriePie joined us.






This is what Ri looks like when she's trying to decide what to steal.












Ri ripping into revealing a book









SandDanz tries to decide what to steal









































HoserLauren, Jebbie74, and AceofHearts









































Jebbie74 is robbed :whip:

Day 4: Reverse Scavenger Hunt

The afternoon of the convention was spent releasing books throughout Toronto in the form a of reverse scavenger hunt. This was GREAT fun and we found some creative ways to release books. Our team, which consisted of Breeze144, CheriePie, Ixion, Morgaine77, Needsun, Noumena12, and SandDanz, and we went to the St. Lawrence Market/Old Town area.

Telephone	Who Do You Think You Are?
Literary	Maggie By the Book in front of Hoare’s Bookstore Macdonald Hall Goes Hollywood at the library
Flowers	The Little English Handbook for Canadians
Fruit	The Right Choice
Colorful	Baby Don’t Go The Debt-Free Graduate: How to Survive College or University without Going Broke
Theme Release	Between the covers of the newspapers: Murder Between the Covers Irish Girls About Town at the Irish Pub Hot Stuff at the Hot House Cafe
Cold	All Shook Up
Warm	An Unforgettable Lady
Hard	Released next to the hard salami: Welcome to Temptation
Soft	A Family of Her Own
Wet	Lake News The Progress of Love
Dry	On a day like today, anywhere inside is dry: In Her Shoes
Especially Canadian
Exotic	What’s A Girl To Do?
Historic	The Heir: a historical romance
Modern	A modern romance in a modern furniture store: Name Dropping
Mysterious	Face Down upon an Herbal

Day 4: Convention AM

The convention started out with Bruce and Heather talking about the future of BookCrossing and answering questions.

For me, the highlight of the morning was listening to Ottawa-Bill speak about mass releasing. Not so much because of the topic, although it was interesting...Ottawa-Bill is a hoot! A great, entertaining speaker!!

Thanks to Skyring, we are all sitting around eating TimTams that came all the way from Australia.

Book-a-Day by John Allemang of the Globe and Mail talked about his "job" to read a book-a-day. Although for him because of the publishing schedule it is really 4 books a week. :) This is the job I need!!!!

Day 3: It's about books and friends

I was soooo tired last night that I couldn't even update my blog. At least I've had a good night's sleep so I should be ready for another long day.

Once Noumena11 and I finally got going (because I wanted to finish The Kitchen Witch first), we ended out to meet "the gang" at the BookCloseOuts store (BookDepot). A giant place where we found everyone perusing the bargain ($1-$4) books. Sand bought a gazillion books and I'm thinking we are going to have to tie her to the roof to get her home.


Then DH and I drove through Nigara Falls and on to Niagra-by-the-Lake. We were going wine tasting. By the time we stopped to have lunch we realized that we would barely make it back in time for the opening reception so we did 2 flights of regional wines with lunch as our wine tasting.

Noumena11, BookRelayers & friends at BookCloseOut store


SandDanz and Needsun

SandDanz hiding behind her cart of books...she'll say they aren't all for her....but I still believe she is bringing more home than she brought to Toronto. It would be hard to believe if it weren't SandDanz.

Met lots of great BookCrossers at the opening reception...



Happy 5th Birthday Bookcrossing!!!!!

And Happy Birthday to Miss-Efficiency too!! She's done an awesome job of putting this event together!








OttawaBill gets the honor of cutting the cake!












There were a few books to choose from at the opening reception! :)





































SerenityBlue going through books she brought to release/distribute during the convention!











































SandDanz and Breeze144











After the reception, DH and I headed out in search of Italian food. Geez, Toronto rolls up the streets at 9:30. We tried 2 restaurants...and both were closed???? The third restaurant we tried was Donatello's on Elm Street. Some of the freshest pasta that I've had. Donatello's had the freshest pasta that I've had in a long time. Dinner consisted of:

• Grilled Goat Cheese which was grilled on a stack of eggplant and pineapple then served over greens with a balsamic dressing. YUM!
• Spicy Shimp
• Raviolli stuffed with crab, shrimp, and just a hint of goat cheese. Since John and I share it was obvious that they had made the pasta fresh because we each had a funny shaped ravioli that was clearly half of the larger raviolis.
  

We had a wonderful Masi Campofiorini red wine to accompany dinner...okay we each had a couple of glasses! :) We passed on dessert but ended the meal with some great coffee.

Then it was back to the hotel to register the books that I caught earlier...started I Think I Love You by Stephanie Bond (another book borrowed from SandDanz).

Day 2: Rested Up

After a little "online time," I sat down to read a book. The first book that I finished during the convention was Got You Number by Stephanie Bond. This was a book that SandDanz hand-delivered for me to borrow. The good news is that it will now be leaving Toronto with her!

Dinner tonight was at Ethiopian House at 4 Irwin Street thanks to a recommendation from Ri. I had the Vegetarian Sampler which included things like spicy split peas, chickpeas rich in garlic sauce, smooth roasted potatoes, and crunchy collard greens...and of course a serving (very LARGE) of Injera. For those of you who don't know, Ethiopian restaurants don't have utensils...you scoop all of the food up with a bread called Injera. Although, it isn't really a bread...it is more of an undercooked oversized tortilla...really hard to describe so that it sounds good.

I took some books to release with me but I was afraid my waitress would return them to me so I didn't release them. I was going to stop by the hotel lounge and leave them but the doors were locked at 10:45 and I couldn't get in. Well fine...I'll save them for another day.

I'm currently reading The Kitchen Witch by Annette Blair...another book borrowed from SandDanz that I expect she'll take back with her! :)

Day 2: Whew!! I need to rest with a good book!

So Noumena11 and I left the hotel this morning for our first excursion around Toronto...whew, I need a break. Below is an image of the map of Downtown Toronto. I've marked it with our route for the day. The red line indicates where we took public transportation. The blue line is what we walked.



Now, do you understand why I'm exhausted????

We went to Hoare's Books (on Front Street) first...it is a lovely little bookstore that reminds me of the homey, old fashioned style of bookstore...hardwood floors, couches, chairs, and fireplace...probably a great place to spend a cold Canadian afternoon.

A few stores down we found an awesome Morrocan restaurant called The Sultan's Tent & Cafe Moroc. What a great find! We had a Tapas-style lunch with several small plates that we shared. I tried a South African Bon Courage Sauvignon Blanc that was very nice and John had a Waterloo Ale.

• HARIRA: A hearty tomato broth of chick peas, kidney beans, lentils and a blend of Moroccan spice
• KESKESU: An exotic large couscous with cremini mushrooms, almonds, sun dried tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese.
• MAFTOUL: Hand rolled “Moroccan Cigars”, hot crispy pastry stuffed with mildly spiced beef, cashews & raisins, served with chipotle aioli.
• CHÈVRE BRULÉE: Sugar flamed imported aged Rondin de Poitu goat cheese, served with a red onion jam and a port cassis syrup.

We finished the meal off with some Morrocan Tea.

After we walked through the St. Lawrence Market (what a great way to shop for food!) we found this lovely little park that Antheras had told us about (near King & Church). John did some sketches for his art project and I took some photos for him to use. It has the potential to be a very interesting drawing.

Next we headed over to City Hall on our way to the Art Gallery of Ontario. We stopped by the Student Gallery first then went through the museum. It is currently under construction so there was limited gallery space open. Oh yeah, and John HAD to stop by the art supply store.

We ended our walk back at Second Cup (wanted to sample the local coffee house) by the hotel where I released a few books.

Now it is time for a little reading and a nap! Next up....Toronto at night!

Day 2: Where is everyone???

Come on already...arrive...while DH had to attend a teleconference, I was busy taking books out of boxes so that they are ready to be delivered




Off for some sightseeing and to get something to eat...oh and I'll probably release a few books too! :)

Day1: We've Arrived

SandDanz, Noumena11, and I have arrived safely in Toronto. After leaving SandDanz with Antheras, Noumena11 and I drove into Toronto...we currently have 6 (yes, that's right, SIX) boxes of books in our room. The bell hop was REALLY glad to see us...I swear it looked like we were moving in.

Of course, you should have seen the car packed!!! I'll post pictures tomorrow...too tired from a very long drive tonight to get the camera out.

Okay...here they are...this is what the car looked like...






And here we are in the parking lot of Chapters (imagine BookCrossers meeting at a BookStore...what was Antheras thinking :) )