Reading

Dear Readers,

Do you have a passion for reading as well as stitching? Do you sometimes sit in your favorite comfy chair and wonder - stitch or read? Read or stitch? Do you ever base your answer on whether you want a snack or not? (Just wondering!!! Sometimes I do!)

Anyway, in my web wanderings for some book or other, I stumbled across this website and I've used it most frequently in the past month so I thought I should pass it on to you. It's called Swap Your Used Books - PaperBackSwap.com and it's all about swapping books. They DON'T have to be paperbacks. In general, they just have to have an ISBN number.

I am seriously hooked! I have TONS of books. I have more than I can probably read in a year or two but no matter. I still get more from the library, find a new series, get started on a new author and off I go again. I like to haunt used bookstores as much as needlework stores. I LOVE to buy off the bargain shelves at Border's. I will pay full price for a paperback but it KILLS me to buy a hardback at full price. I'm a one time reader so once I read it, I pass it on. I have several friends that swap with me and in fact, I used to have a "leave a book, take a book" shelving unit at the store. Lots of people didn't like my tastes (mystery, thriller) and personally I'm not into romance (ugh!) Well, unless there's some really good x-rated stuff in it. Then I'd just read those pages and skip the mush. Well honestly! Who can believe all that stuff anyway?

So! In this swapping thing, I've found a new way to recycle my books. Hey, I even shipped out Don Quixote. I think I had it from high school. Basically the whole thing is free but you pay to ship your books to somebody else and they pay to ship theirs to you. You get a "credit" for the books you send and you spend your credits on the books you want. Remember, the post office still has media mail so we're not talking a lot of money here. There's also something called Box-O-Books (these people even TALK like me) where you swap a "box" with another reader that you both agree on. To be in that "group" it's a mere $8 a year.

Oh and they also do videos, books on CD/tape, etc. I haven't looked at all that yet. I think there's still only 24 hours in a day. :-)