In the mood for a good book?

It's been a tough few weeks at my house and as I look around at friends, it does seem like it's tough just about everywhere and in more kinds of ways that I would have thought possible.

A few days ago, after my "milestone" birthday, I came home to a furnace that didn't work and I ended up writing a check for about $160 that wasn't in the budget. I'm not complaining. It was a fixable problem, and short-term, with a solution. But for maybe 24-48 hours, I could feel myself just shut down while I tried to decide what to do.

If I'd had a good book to read, that could have given my brain a little place to hide out for a while but my niece had quickly taken my copy of Betsy Green's latest and nothing else in the house looked good. But I’ve found a new source for books and wanted to share.

Paperbackswap.com. The name says it all. If you have books you enjoyed but need to clear away space for more books, just go to the site, register with your name and email, then list 10 books (by ISBN). The website plays matchmaker and matches your books up with people who have requested those books. The mailer pays about $2 to mail, which is your only cost. You don't pay for the books you request. Instead you use the credits you build up from the books you mail out. Every book gives you a credit; CDs give and cost 2 credits. There’s a small selection of LDS books but I think it will grow over time.

Since my house looks like a used bookstore--piles of books, books jammed in several big bookcases, and several boxes of books that just can't be unpacked—I need some space and I want my books to go to people who will appreciate them.

Now a last thought and one reason I'm writing about this website. I live in a very small town (population 7,000 maybe) and so our library is small (with a really respectable LDS section, I will add). But one of the librarians was bemoaning that she had a book in a series but didn't have money in the budget for the 1st and 3rd and so she couldn't put the 2nd on the shelf. I checked on paperbackswap.com and there were the 1st and 3rd books. I had sold some books, so it took just a few clicks to order these books, and I’ve helped my community 

It just makes me feel good that in these "tough economic times" there are things we can do to help others that don't cost a lot of money. And sharing books, IMHO, is one of the most rewarding. Now, I think I'm in the mood for a good book and with a weekend ahead, and some butter pecan ice cream in the fridge, I think I'm going to rest my weary soul just a bit.