BookMooch!!!!

In 2008, I have been determined to give myself more time for reading BOOKS. I have a huge pile of books given to me as gifts as far back as three Christmases ago. I also have a mother with an insane amount of reading time on her hands. She has passed a lot of books on to me. And then there was the school book fair. I have a lot of reading catch up. When I am feeling ambitious, I will make a little sidebar list of books I have read since the start of 2008. There will be no reviews from me, beyond a thumbs up or down. Writing a book review feels way to much like homework. I read for fun.

Two weeks ago, Geoff and I discovered BookMooch, a website for trading books. You list the books you are prepared to give away, and for every book you send to someone else, you receive a point. You can use your points to "mooch" books from other people. Geoff is an even more avid reader than I - he actually gets up a half hour earlier than he needs to each morning so that he can read for a bit before heading off to work at 6AM. When he realized that we could get "free" books, he ransacked the house for books to trade. Consequently, I spent an hour the next day preparing and shipping 11 books off to their new owners. We are giving away all the chick lit. I buy in the summer, all the books given to Geoff by one of his accounts at work, as well as the occassional literary work deemed not worth keeping on a book shelf. (Geoff is not just a reader. He is a collector.) So far we have received a Nancy Drew book for Thing One and a couple Sophie Kinsella books for me - because I might as well get my summer reads for free.

And while I am throwing around the word "free," I should mention that shipping is paid by the sender of the book. Between shipping materials and shipping charges, I figure we are spending just under $4.00 for every book we send. But still, what is more exciting than a book coming in the mail?