Books, Books, Books

It isn’t a surprise, or it shouldn’t be, that I love to read. I love being taken out of my life and being totally immersed into another place and time. Bookstores are an often sought out retreat for me. I love the smell, the atmosphere and the books. ALL of the books.

First stop is the bargain book section. You never know what treasures lie buried there.

Then on to find the book that sent me there in the first place. Of course there are plenty of books along the route that demand my attention. I am unable to simply find what I am there for and leave. I MUST browse. It is required for my sanity. Or what’s left of it.

I was recently introduced to a wonderful website. Paperback Swap. Amy hosts a wonderful book blog. (You should check out her blog Chic Book Chicks) One of the buttons on her blog takes you to paperbackswap.com. I was curious, so I clicked on the link and have now traded about 50 books so far. (Received and mailed combined) I am somewhat addicted.

This is a swapping site. Although the name is Paperback, there are hard cover books, audio cassette and CD’s listed as well. You may request books from others, and they may request books from you. You are on the hook to pay for postage to get your book to the requester, AND likewise the person from whom you have requested a book is to pay for the postage to get you their book. Once you mail the book to someone, it is theirs to read and keep or trade. Once you receive a book you have requested, it is yours to read and keep or trade. Postage is book rate and has only been $2 or $3 a book, depending on the size of the book.

If there is a book you are interested in and it isn’t listed as an available book, which happens with the more recent releases, you can put a title on your wish list. I have about 30 books on my wish list. Books for me, my daughters and my hubby too. You can view where you stand in line to get the book. I am 12th in line of 27 people waiting for one book on my list. If you are patient, which I am for some of the books, you just wait and you will receive an email notification when your turn is up. Same goes for someone requesting a book from your listing of available books. You get an email.


This website has everything set up such that all you do is click a few buttons and whiz-bang you are ready to mail any books that have been requested of you. You only need to click a few buttons and you can print a pre-prepared mailing label. If you choose to purchase postage through the site, it will be printed right on the mailing label. Everything is already filled out for you. Your address, the recipients address, words indicating that it is a book. It’s great. The site does charge a small fee for providing postage, but is well worth it if you are like me and have problems getting to a post office. The smaller paperback books can then be put in a mail box.

I listed a recent series of books, and two seconds later they were all scooped up. I printed out 6 labels, with postage. Another wonderful feature is that you can wrap a paperback book in the paper on which you printed the mailing label. It’s so easy.

There are all sorts of books posted on the site. I have posted fantasy, mystery, children’s, cookbooks…

What are you waiting for? If you read, you need to check them out.