www.PaperBackSwap.com = Free Books! (Kind of)

I hobbled into the store, carrying my heavy load of once prized books. At eight months pregnant, I was large and on a mission. I was anxious to unload these books, as they loomed taller than Pikes Peak on my final pregnancy nesting plans. My hormonal body believed that a child could not be born and brought into our home if these books remained untouched on our bookshelves. They must go. There wasn't enough room for a second baby and a stack of books. To treat ourselves for de-cluttering, this book sale was to be the creative revenue to fund our evening's date. I was sure that they would delight the lucky sleuth who found them at Half Price Books.

We walked out of Half Price Books with about $8.00.

It was hard to not take this as a slap in the face. We would have to share a meal that night. Certainly, no movie or popcorn for us. I felt defeated and rejected. Those books represented several hundred dollars and hours of reading. There had to be a better way to get a return on my collection of words.

Two years later, I found the answer. I was having lunch with Laurel, the classy lady who is hosting my most recent giveaway. We were discussing good parenting books and Bible studies. She mentioned that she would put my recently read books on her wish list through PaperBackSwap.

Tell me more!

Do you have a lot of books lying around the house? The reality is that if you take them to Half Price Books you will probably get $8 for them and if you go to Goodwill . . . . well, nothing but a tiny tax deduction, if you are lucky.

The solution? PaperBackSwap! (No, I am not getting money for this post. But I will receive a credit toward a book when you sign up using the ad at the bottom of this post and you list 10 or more books!) I think that this site is a creative tool to get rid of books you no longer use and gain books that you would like to read. Look at some of the great books I have already swapped!

How do you do it? Easy! You will have over 3,000,000 books waiting at your fingertips!

1. Click on the below, colorful PaperBackSwap blue ad.

2. Post all of the books you are willing to swap. Typically, you just enter in the ISBN located on the back of each book.

3. After you post 10 books, you will receive 2 free book credits as a "welcome to the club" gift.

4. Browse for books that you would like to read or give as a gift using the search page.

5. Order the book or put it on your wish list if it isn't currently available.

6. When another member requests a book from your electronic bookshelf, you will receive an email alerting you. (And don't worry--by signing up, you will not be bombarded by emails, unless you post a lot of books!)

7. Accept the request and mail the book using media mail, which is approximately $2.23 for less than one pound. You can print the wrapper and pay for postage directly from your PaperBackSwap account.

8. Mail the book!

One Credit=One Book

You can even do this for DVD's and CD's!

PaperBackSwap has blessed our homeschooling bookshelf for significantly less than if I had bought everything new or even at Half Price Books.

Happy Reading!