Paperback Swap.com

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So if you know me at all, you know that I love to read and basically inhale books like they're going out of style. I also married an avid book reader which means that the majority of our house has books lying around and that I have to purge a good deal of books to keep things even remotely sane.

I had heard about paperbackswap.com before but I was waiting around to see how useful it would really be and I like to see people’s thoughts before I embark on a new mission in life. However, we currently have a ton of books lying around because I haven’t slept well and I tend to read cheap trashy chick lit type books when that happens. So, I found someone’s referral (I like to use referrals on things that will give people credit) and signed up for the site. Basically, you post 10 books that you want to get rid of (you can do less, but 10 gets you 2 credits) and if people have them on their wish list or want to read them they order the book. You then print off the wrapper, tape it a bunch, and mail it to the address provided. You can even have it automatically calculate postage online so you can just drop it in a mailbox! I LOVE things like this that make my life more convenient. I’m a little sketchy on if you gain points just for posting books but at least initially that is the case. Each book you mail also gives you 1 credit and, consequently, any book you’d like to order costs 1 credit. There’s also the ability to purchase some credits if you need it. The only real cost to you is to mail your book through media mail which is usually less than $3. :)

Considering I can read a book a night at times, the fee to mail is much cheaper (and I can get books a bit more easily than through the library) and you can get even new releases although there may be a waiting list. All books should arrive within about 3-10 days for media mail so they come to your house for you to read at your convenience and if you want to keep the book, you can. I really like the ease with which this is supposed to work. Granted, I just signed up and only listed 5 books so far but I have already had 2 of them ordered! So my thought is if you like to read and want to be able to swap books for relatively cheap, you may want to give this a try. Best part – even the random books that the husband likes can be found usually. If you decide to do it, you can click on the above ad which will refer you under my name or you can sign up and just type the referral name in (nhorton08 being mine). I’m hoping that things get even better with this service for me once I get used to it a little more. So far I found that I’m horrible at book wrapping...