I Feel Swappy

Because, yeah. That's a real word.

I recently joined PaperBackSwap. It's an online book club for people all over the country. You post books you have that you're willing to give away, and in return you get credits. With one credit, you can request any book you like. There's so many available to choose from. The person with the book you requested then wraps it in paper and ships it to you. You receive the book, you read it, and you do whatever you want with it. Keep it, share it, even post it back onto PaperBackSwap to share with someone else. You can also specify that books you receive only come from non-smoking homes, or no-pet homes, or anything else you might need, if you have specific preferences.

The cost to ship an average book is around $2.30 or so. Sometimes the books are sent first class, sometimes they're media mail, so it can vary how quickly you get a book. But I've already received 5 books since joining, and have mailed out 4.

Books are all supposed to be in very good used condition. And all the books I've received are, in fact, in very good condition. Even the used book from 1984 that I just got - it has a stamp inside that indicates it was in Bremerton, WA at some point, but it was mailed from the midwest. It is yellowed with age, but the pages and cover are in great condition for it's age.

The first book I sent went to Louisville, CO. I grinned to myself about that one - sending a book to my favorite place I've lived!

And according to the page that's keeping track of the books I've received since joining, I've saved $22.50 by swapping instead of buying new. Yay!

And ya know what? It feels pretty fun to swap books, send personalized messages, and see where the books have been before they came to you. There's so much more you can do within PaperBackSwap...I've just barely scratched the surface so far. It's a cozy little club. And hey - books are great!! Check it out. They even have CD and DVD swapping available with sister clubs!