When Tony Blair called his much-awaited memoirs A Journey, he probably expected its journey into bookshops would be relatively straightforward.

But a Facebook page was today inundated with pictures of the former prime minister's book in odd places after thousands joined a group entitled "Subversively move Tony Blair's memoirs to the crime section in bookshops".

The Facebook page – which had more than 5,000 members by mid-afternoon – urges them to "make bookshops think twice about where they categorise our generations [sic] greatest war criminal".

The group was started by nursing student Euan Booth – no relation to Euan Blair, or indeed Cherie Booth – to protest about the book and Blair's record in Iraq. He had thought of staining books with fake blood – but wanted to take action that was non-criminal and peaceful. "It is mischievous, but no one is coming to any harm," he said. "It is a very English way of voicing your opinion and is meant to be a bit of fun."

Booth, 24, attended Sir John Chilcot's Iraq inquiry, but was frustrated by not being able to convey his own feelings about the war to Blair. "I was absolutely livid that this bloke could still be walking around and lying to the British people. The war was based on a complete pack of lies and we are still paying the price of that," he said. Last Thursday, he decided to take the matter into his own hands. "If it gets back to him in some small way that this is what people think about him, I will be pleased. He hasn't profited from the book but he has a channel to voice his opinions about this. I don't and I'm trying to take that back."

On Saturday, Blair was pelted with shoes and eggs at his first public signing, at Eason's bookshop on O'Connell Street in Dublin. Four men were arrested.

Booth does not condone the violence, and points out on the site that book moving is a peaceful form of protest. Others in the group praised the simplicity of the protest. Gordon Lightbody wrote: "It is a wonderfully simple act but it speaks volumes about the man."

Jill Elizabeth Daines wrote that she had moved three copies of the book in WH Smith in the Arndale Centre, Manchester. "One went under science fiction, one tragic life stories and another in sci-fi, fantasy and horror. I think all these categories are relevant. I saw several people look at the book and smile in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror section."

Others have suggested more leftfield places for the books. Laurie Schram photographed A Journey next to the wet wipes in Tesco, which had no crime section, admitting that she "got quite a kick out of this". Gordon Darroch suggested putting the book in the dark fantasy section, while Eva Ch – referring to the sections dealing with the Blairs' love life – suggested: a more unorthdox shelf placement. "Some of it is really gushing … and could be put next to the Mills and Boon."