Okay, maybe that's going overboard a bit. But I do have to say that PaperBackSwap is very and completely totally awesome.
If you're not familiar with it, let me enlighten you and change your life. PBS is a currently-free service (they may charge a membership fee in the future) that exists as a huge database of books that people no longer want and are willing to trade for credits--one credit per book. Those credits can be "spent" to obtain books from the database that they actually want. It's basically a big swap meet. You don't have to literally trade books with one person, though that's a possibility, too. You simply list your books using a very simple method of entering in the ISBN number, wait for someone to request your book, and then you print out the handy-dandy label provided and mail the book. When the other person receives the book, they mark it "received" in their account, and you get a credit. Then you can take that credit and get any book that's been listed in the database. My favorite feature is the Wish List, which allows you to keep a list of the books you'd like to have, should they ever be listed. When the book becomes available, the first person who had the book on their Wish List is contacted via e-mail and given 48 hours to respond. After that, it goes to the next person in line, and so on. Your only cost is the cost of postage for mailing the books, which are usually $1.59 and $2.09, media mail.
My account tells me that I have saved $166, based on a $4.50 used book price, but many of these books are out-of-print, or have been brand new, making them worth much, much more than $4.50. The total distance that has been covered by all of the books I've received is 31,213 miles! One came from Hawaii!
Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a list of the books I've received so far. If it makes you jealous, good. :-) No, what I really mean is that you should hop right over there and join. You have to post nine books in order to get started, and then you get three credits as soon as you post all nine. Make sure you click on the link above or below. I get a credit if you join, which means, what else, another BOOK!
Hat tip to Impromptu-Mom. Thank you so much, I.M.!
Foxe's Book of Martyrs (Valuebooks)
ISBN: 1586600338 - John Foxe Date Completed: 8/23/2006
Bookshelf for Boys and Girls Set
Bookshelf Staff
Homeschooling: The Teen Years : Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 13- to 18- Year-Old (Prima Home Learning Library)
Cafi Cohen, Janie Levine Hellyer
A Passion for Books
Terry W. Glaspey (Editor)
Selected Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson Date
Mutant Message Down Under
Marlo Morgan Date
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Harriet Beecher Stowe
the Kon-Tiki Expedition
Heyerdahl, Thor
The Homeschool Journey
Susan Card, Michael Card
Do What You Are : Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type--Revised and Updated Edition Featuring E-careers for the 21st Century
Paul D. Tieger, Barbara Barron-Tieger
A Charlotte Mason Education
Catherine Levison
The Fat Flush Cookbook
Ann Louise Gittleman
The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin and Hobbes)
Watterson
The Star Wars Cookbook II -Darth Malt and More Galactic Recipes
Frankie Frankeny, Robin Davis, Wesley Martin
Thimble Summer
Elizabeth Enright
At the Crossroads: An Insider's Look at The Past, Present, and Future of Contemporary Christian Music
Charlie Peacock
Lords and Ladies
Terry Pratchett
Traveling Mercies : Some Thoughts on Faith
Anne Lamott
The Blue Fairy Book (Dover Storybooks for Children)
The Best of James Herriot: Favorite Memories of One of the Most Beloved Writers of Our Time
James Herriot
Velveteen Rabbit
Margery Williams
Secrets Of Droon #10 : Quest For The Queen (Secrets Of Droon)
Tony Abbott
Something Under the Bed Is Drooling
Bill Watterson
Saint George and the Dragon
Margaret Hodges, Trina Schart Hyman
Grow It!
W. Langer
Yukon Ho!
Bill Watterson Date
On Writing--This one was a HARDCOVER! Brand new!
Stephen King
The Vein of Gold
Julia Cameron
A Bear Called Paddington
Michael Bond
Something Queer Is Going on: A Mystery
Elizabeth Levy
Heir Apparent
Vivian Vande Velde
Hogfather
Terry Pratchett
Into the Land of the Lost (Secrets of Droon, 7)
Tony Abbott
The Golden Wasp (Secrets of Droon, 8)
Tony Abbott
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
Douglas Adams
Sleight of Hand
Edwin Sachs
Favorite Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A Charlotte Mason Education
Catherine Levison
