On The Merits of (Almost) Free Books

Stepping Heavenward
Lasting Love
Love is the Greatest
Taking Charge of Your Fertility
Flat Belly Diet
Created to be his Help Meet
Let me be a Woman
For Women Only

These are all the titles I could recall when I started making a list of all the books I've accumulated from paperbackswap.com.  Maybe you've heard of this website randomly; I did a couple of times before I opened an account with them and thought perhaps some others would like to join in! 

Basically, paperbackswap organizes the swapping of books of all forms (not just paperbacks) around the country.  It's entirely free to make an account and post books!  Once a book you post is requested, you mail it to the requester and earn a credit to request a book you want.  It turns out that the only cost involved is what it costs you to mail your books (at media rate, of course) to the people who request them.  Of course, you have the option of marking "I cannot mail this book" when a book of yours is requested, but the whole idea behind the system is to get rid of books you don't want and start getting books that you do.

I opened my account when my parents were cleaning out their bookshelves about a year and a half ago.  They had about ten books they were planning to donate to good will, but I figured I'd give this a try.  One of the perks of being a new member is that once you post ten books, you automatically get two credits!  That's how I was able to request Let Me Be a Woman and For Women Only.  To my surprise, requests for my books started showing up in my e-mail almost immediately!  Since then, well, you see what has happened. 

When John and I got married, we realized that we had duplicate copies of three or four books, so I posted them, as well.  Really, you can be as involved or uninvolved in the site as you wish.  It's just fun to have a credit or two on my account for when I hear a book recommended that the library probably doesn't have or that I'll want to keep for a while. 

"Wish List" is one of my favorite features of the site.  If you search for a book that nobody has, you can add it to your Wish List and when someone posts it, you automatically get an e-mail notification before it's viewable to everyone else.  If a lot of people have wished for the same book, the site lets you know where you are in line and when they estimate that it will be available for you.  Gracias, paperbackswap!