Recommendation Withdrawal

Way back in July of last year I recommended a new book website called paperbackswap.com.

You can read the post here: http://pleasanthillbookclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/paperback-swap.html.

Paperback Swap was a cool site where members traded books and it was completely free. Soon after they added a book store component to their site and it is growing evermore obvious that quality books that may have been found on their site for free are now ONLY being SOLD. It has gone from a great community of shared reading to just another book market. This morning I used up my last credits on their site and have deleted my account in protest. I recommend you do the same if you have an account there.

Found it!

Yesterday I posted that I could not find the book Enemy Mine by Barry Longyear. Well lucky for me (assuming its a good book) I found it! In a final effort I searched paperbackswap.com and there was a copy available. It should arrive in a few days. I can't wait to read it!

Thank you to everybody who gave suggestions!

For those who are unfamiliar with paperbackswap.com you can visit their website or read about it from an earlier posting of ours:

http://pleasanthillbookclub.blogspot.com/2009/07/paperback-swap.html

Paperback Swap

Paperbackswap.com is an interesting site that allows you to "swap" paperbacks with members of the site. The site and the books you swap are completely free. All you pay for is shipping.

The way the site works is you post books you are willing to mail to other members. When someone requests a book and you send it to them you are given one credit. Each credit you earn represents a book that you can request from another member. Plus just for signing up, which again is free, you get 1 or 2 credits to start out. So just by signing up you get at least 1 free paperback of your choice!

This is kind of like the netflix of books with the exception that its free! Did I mention that its free?

You might be saying, "Isn't this what the library does?" And the answer, of course, is yes. However the one big difference is that you get to keep the book forever if you choose.

Personally, I have only requested books that I know I am going to use over and over with my classes (The Worldly Philosophers) or a rare book that I can't find anywhere else (Fear and Loathing on the '72 Campaign Trail)...even at the library.

There is even a wish list feature so that if they do not have a book available (currently there are close to 4 million books available) they will email you when it does.

The only drawback of participating would be that you do have to pay to mail a book (but not to receive), which is about $2.35 if you are using media mail. However, $2.35 seems like a very reasonable price to pay for a book that you either plan to keep or one that has been very hard to find.