Why Paperback Swap rocks my socks

I live in a semi-rural area.  Generally, I am broke.  What does this mean?  It is a PAIN to get a hold of books around here!  My family has a huge personal library.  We're talking something like 10,000 books, and that is not an exaggeration.  I tried cataloging them once and made it two rooms of the house.  Final total in just those two?  3500.  Unfortunately, most of those I've either read or are nonfiction/picture books and not what I want to read for fun.  My local library system nearby (not the Hennepin County system, where I withdraw books occasionally) is not well funded, and they have a hard time keeping the books I like in stock.  They have no Mitali Perkins.  None.  Probably because there isn't enough demand in my area, but still!  (That is not a diss to the library, which I like, it is a diss to the lack of funding.)

What's the solution?  Paperbackswap.com!  (No, this is not an advertisement/paid endorsement, I just love this website.)  Basically, people post books that they no longer want.  Other people request those books.  The people who posted the books then mail them off, and upon receipt, the people who requested those books give credits to the people that sent them.  It is an amazing system.  So, say you end up with a book you hated or a book that just wasn't your thing, but you really want to read Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  You post a book.  You wait for someone to request it.  (Sometimes that step takes awhile, but not usually.)  You request Uglies with the credit you earned by sending someone else a book (or go on the waiting list for Uglies if no one's posted it yet).  All you've had to pay is the postage to send the initial book!

As someone who loves to support authors, I try to buy books new.  I really do.  But it is REALLY EXPENSIVE.  And in the end, I think the authors would rather you read a legitimate copy of their book that's just being passed around a lot for almost free than read a pirated copy for free.  (Note: These are legitimate copies.  You can't post ARCs or stripped books or any kind of illegal/severely damaged book, and if you do, the person receiving the book won't give you a credit.  Also, it's not just for paperbacks - hardcovers, textbooks, audiobooks, you name it are also swapped.  And there's also a sister site for DVDs.)  The one flaw with Paperback Swap is that there are MASSIVE waiting lists for popular or newly released books - I think I'm spot #143 in line for Kathryn Stockett's The Help - but there are a heck of a lot of really great books up for request.  Sarah Dessen, Meg Cabot, and Stephenie Meyer always seem to have at least a few books there at any given time.

So, now that I'm finished with my freebie promotion (you owe me, Paperback Swap!!!!), I shall regale you with a personal tale.  Four nights ago, having just gotten off the phone with my best friend at midnight, I felt like a major insomniac and was lamenting the fact that I won't make it down to Hennepin Co. Library to pick up my books before camp.  (I'm SO SORRY, Mitali Perkins, but I won't be able to read The Secret Keeper for at least another month and a half now!)  As I said, I was glum, and so went on a total book requesting binge.  We had about 25 credits on the site, and I spent 13 of them in the space of about a half an hour.  Then I spent another credit the next morning.  Upon opening her email inbox the next day, my poor dear mother was ASSAULTED by notifications of my overindulgence, but because she is a truly kind and beautiful person, her only comment upon my tentatively asking if she'd seen that I had requested the books was "Yes, yes I did."

Yesterday, I received a package in the mail.  Today, I received two giant ones.  Tomorrow, I expect to receive even more.  YESSSS!  Upon receiving my final packages, I'll list all of the titles and what have you for my readers, but here's just a sampling of authors:  Ian McEwan, Meg Cabot, Jerry Spinelli, Sarah Dessen, Toni Morrison, Scott Westerfeld, Scott O'Dell, Walter Dean Myers, and Libba Bray.

And that's why Paperback Swap rocks my socks. =)