Loving Paperback Swap

I love to see the little brown envelopes, slightly battered and torn, arriving in my mailbox. Why?

Because it means I have a new book to read! The best part is that it’s free–well, nearly free. It’s so exciting. It’s like a little sweet treat for me, but it’s a book. Maybe a little strange to some people, but I was that teenager that asked for books for presents. (One time a friend of my Mom’s asked her what kind of things she buys for her teenager, me, by my replied, “I don’t know. Mine likes books.)

Although, if you’re reading this blog–which is about books–I’m sure you share the love.

When I first heard of PaperBack Swap I was a little uncertain. It sounded like a good idea, but I wondered if I’d get the books I wanted or if I’d only be sending books out.

For those of you that don’t know, the way PaperBack Swap works is that you post books you want to swap with other members to the database and then you search for books you want. Each book is worth 1 credit and audiobooks are worth 2. To start you have to post at least 10 books, if I remember correctly. You can either ‘order’ books if they’re available from another member or you can add them to your wishlist and are notified when the book becomes available.

The cost to mail books is around $2, which is not a bad price for a like-new book. It can get frustrating when you feel like you’re mailing more books out than you are receiving. That’s what happened to me in my first few months, but after I switched my search settings to ‘All Books’ I found a lot more titles I wanted. I did have to wait for them, but it was nice to know I could get books I wanted.

Another way that PaperBack Swap is useful for me is I use it to get books I want to add permanently to my personal library or books my city library doesn’t have. With the latter, I order them with the intention of swapping them after I read them so I can get more books. It’s a win-win situation.

If you don’t want to get rid of books on your shelf, consider buying extra books next time you’re at a garage sale or book sale. It’s a little money up front, but it’ll help get you started swapping.

But, what’s more exciting than getting my new book in the mail today (A Sister’s Test, the second book in a series I started last month) is the books that are headed my way:

• Reading Lolita in Tehran
• The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen
• The Queen of Babble
• The Parting (Book 1 in The Courtship of Nellie Fisher series)

Yeah for me!

I also mailed four books this week, so once those are received I’ll get credit and will be able to order four more! I just have to figure out what books I want next. Hmmm….