Trading Books

The other day, Deb R mentioned Library Thing, a very cool site that lets you keep track of books you've read, find other books you might like, and generally scout around and read about what books other people read. If you're like me, and you're always on the lookout for new authors and books to read, it's a Good Thing. A Great Thing, in fact.

And Deb's mention reminded me that I hadn't logged in there in a while to update what I've been reading, which led to my poking around the site a bit further, which led me to discover the world of online book trading.

Who knew? Turns out there are various sites where you can list the books you have and no longer want, as well as the books you'd like to receive...and these sites link you up so you can do a trade.

The site I ended up signing up with is called Bookmooch. Through that site, you list books you want to trade and get "points" for the books you have in your "inventory." If anyone has that book on their wishlist, Bookmooch automatically emails them to let them know you have it. And here's the cool part: if you send off the book to someone who wants it, you get more "points" which you can spend on trades with others. You don't have to do a direct trade... you spent your points by getting books from others, and earn your points by sending your books out.

So, I'm giving it a try. Lord knows I've got books I need to get rid of, and each time I've tried to list something on Amazon or Half.com, I find there are already bunches of whatever I have for $1.00 a copy or something. Hardly worth the effort.

I've noticed that the Bookmooch site is a tad slow at times, but so far I can live with that.