Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Library Doesn't Have What You Want, Try Paperback Swap

Since we don't like to spend money on books but do like to read, Gerard and I use the library all the time; however, sometimes they don't have a specific book that we want to read. This was the case for Forever My Lady by Jeff Rivera. He promoted his book on My Space in one of the discussion forums and I thought it sounded like one I would like to read. Through Tina at the Creative Nerd, I discovered www.paperbackswap.com which is a website where people can post their books that they are willing to mail to others (not limited to just paperbacks, also have hard covers, DVDs, CDs).

The other one of the first books I received was Where The Wild Things Are which I probably could have gotten from the library, but saw it listed and since I've been wanting to read it, just went ahead and ordered it as sort of a trial run to see how it worked. I saw this book on a lot of Shelfari shelves and the cover caught my attention. It's a children's picture book, but my cats both enjoyed it. See Manny's post about it on his blog at Zemeks' Updates.

All you pay is the postage for mailing a book. Once you post ten books of yours you get 2 credits which can be used to "purchase" two books through the site. After that, every time you mail one of your books, you get another credit that you can use. This is a nice way to share those books that are just sitting around your house collecting dust that you probably won't read again and clear some shelf space for other things.

7 comments:

The Silver Age Sara said...

That's a great idea Karen and thanks for the information. I'm headed over there now. I've belonged to a site called "Books Free" for about 6 years. It's a Netflix for books. For a minimal monthly fee, you get books sent to you and you can keep them as long as you want. Before Booksfree, I spent way too much money on books.
Thanks again for the info on the site. It's a great help to those of us who like to read.

Daisy said...

That really is a good idea. Especially because books are getting to be so expensive!

Sandee said...

This is a terrific idea.

Have a great day Karen. :)

BeadedTail said...

This is a great idea! We buy books from library books sales and also check out a lot from the library but we come across books we want to read but can't find. This sounds like a great resource for finding those elusive books!

Tina Kubala said...

Thanks for the link. I love PaperBackSwap. Sending books I don't want out to someone who might enjoy them is so nice. And I've been thrilled with getting books in the mail.

Tina Kubala said...

Thanks for the link. I love PaperBackSwap. Sending books I don't want out to someone who might enjoy them is so nice. And I've been thrilled with getting books in the mail.

heidi said...

I love books and so do my kids and I cannot wait to check it out. When I was a kid I made my mom read," Where the Wild Things Are" every night practically.

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