Booksfree.com

[Mo]

I just became a member of Booksfree.com, the literary version of Netflix. For $9.99 a month, I can request 2 books at a time. As soon as I return them, Booksfree will automatically send me new titles from my list depending on the priority I have assigned to my requests. This unlimited-requests-service is a book buying addict's dream. The only setback is that is takes 5-10 days to get the books b/c they're sent by media mail. I'll see how it works out. Hopefully, it will be as rewarding as Paperbackswap.com.

Please share other websites that have helped you save $$$$ on books.

Yours truly,
Ms. Bookaholic

[Lindsay]

Hi Mo,

How do you like it so far?

I am terrible... I read about 7 books at a time, start, stop, loose, restart... I'm like ADD for books... but I love reading!

Lindsay

[Mo]

That's a nice way of putting it ("I'm like ADD for books"). I just joined Booksfree.com and am waiting for 2 books to arrive. I figure I'll try it out and then cancel if I don't like it. Between Booksfree.com, Paperbackswap.com and my own purchases, I should be able to sustain my book addiction without breaking the bank.

[Jeni]

I just have a question - Booksfree.com is $9.99/mo, but if you go to the library, its free, and you can check out as many as you want, plus you can re-check out books if you need them longer. I'm just wondering how Booksfree is different/better since you are just borrowing books, not actually buying them?

[Meredith]

I havent used booksfree.com but I'm guessing they have a larger selection. I live in NYC and I know how hard it can be to sometimes get new or popular books right away.

[Patrick]

Meredith, are you saying that it is hard to get new or popular books from the NYC library system? Or is it hard to find these new and popular books in the bookstores?

Never having lived in New York, but guessing that at least 80% of all the books I've ever read seem to be handled by publishing houses based there, I would assume NYC would be one of the easiest place to find new and popular books. But I recognize that my assumptions may not fit reality about a place like New York -- living in LA turned out to be far different than I expected when I settled here for good last year.

Also, for the general group -- is there a time limit on how long you can keep a book through booksfree.com? One of the few irritations I have with libraries is that due dates are always sneaking up on you. This is especially hard when you've got book-ADD and are reading (or planning to read) so many books at any given time, as Lindsay mentions above.

[Mo]

You can keep booksfree.com books for an unlimited amount of time. In other words, you can keep it 'til you're finished with it. Of course, to get your money's worth ($9.99/mo), it probably makes sense to try to read the books and return them as quickly as possible. I've only been a member for a couple weeks or so. The books that I requested arrived pretty quickly, but because I have Book ADD, I haven't even had an opportunity to read them yet. It may not be worth my money to continue my membership. You can cancel at anytime so I figured it was worth a try.

On the library note - personally, my area library sucks! They hardly ever have the books that I want to read and when they do have a new book or bestseller, it's checked out and there are a "gazillion" number of holds on the book so that when it does come in, I can't get it. This is very annoying to me so I don't even use the library. The quick deadlines for turning the book in is also an annoyance since I have book ADD.

[Patrick]

I can completely relate to your book ADD. Never heard it described in those terms before, but I'm know I have it too. That's why I feel compelled to buy my books and hold onto them until I'm done with them, and why library turn-in deadlines won't work for me either, at least for checking out books.

I find our local libraries perfect for borrowing books-on-tape and books-on-CD, though. I drive a lot during the day -- most people in LA do, I think -- and so I listen to a lot of those. Since I travel around a lot in this area, I feel free to make use all of the libraries in LA, Orange County, and the counties to the east referred to as the Inland Empire. Overall that's probably at least 60 libraries to choose from, and I can usually find some interesting used books for sale when I stop in to check out a Friends of the Library bookstore. I usually find the best new stuff at the main branch of the Long Beach Public Library.

Not sure where you're from, but I grew up in a small city back East with an OK library system, so I can understand your frustration with the poor selection of new books at libraries and the holds placed on popular new books.

Does booksfree.com have the most recently published books available? I see you're currently reading Emperor Of Ocean Park, which came out a few years ago, right? Did you get that through booksfree.com?

[Mo]

It's my understanding that Booksfree.com only rents paperback books and audiobooks so no . . . they don't have recently published hardcover books available. They did have Emperor of Ocean Park, but I ended up buying it because I needed instant gratification and could not wait for Media Mail.

[Elaine]

I have included these on another thread about where I like to buy books but here are the book trading sites I generally use: paperbackswap.com, frugalreader.com, bookmooch.com, titletrader.com, whatsonmybookshelf.com, and poshpoints.com.

For ebooks I use: Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page and have just heard of another free ebook site from the University of Virginia that I have yet to check out http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/ebooks/.

[Aimee]

I am a big fan of www.bookmooch.com

It's a trading site and I've given and received MANY books on this site for only the cost of the postage to SEND them.

You pay nothing for the books you receive. It works on points (you get points for listing books, giving books and giving feedback on books you've 'mooched').

[Ashley]

I'm also a big fan of BookMooch. You recieve points by putting books in your inventory, sending them, adknowledging that you have recieved books from other people. You use the points to mooch books. It's totally FREE...100%. The only costs to you is for sending the books in the mail to whomever has requested a book from you. :)

[ScottK]

I think I will have to check the Book Mooch thing out when I move back to the mainland......postage is expensive from Hi. plus it takes forever unless I do it overnight or next day.

[Heather]

Definitely try Bookmooch - I use both it and Paperbackswap.com, and I much prefer Bookmooch. Never had a bad experience!

[Audrey]

I use Bookins, which sounds a lot like Bookmooch. We recently moved -- downsized from a 4 bedroom house to a 2 bedroom apartment, so I had to downsize my book collection as well. I ended up listing my books on Bookins, and then using my points to work toward new books that I want. Sometimes the most recent releases are available and sometimes they aren't, but I've had no trouble finding things I want to read. Plus, if I don't like the book or it's not one that I just HAVE to keep in my personal collection forever (due to space, I've become much pickier about this), then I just relist it when I'm done and use it to earn more points/books. Plus, you really can't beat $5.00 for a new hardcover book, imo...

[Wes]

THAT DOES NOT SOUND LIKE A GOOD DEAL AT ALL UNLESS YOU ARE THE TYPE WHO CAN READ 2 BOOKS IN 4 DAYS CONSTANTLY THAT IS THE ONLY WAY YOU COULD GET AHEAD OF THE 9.99.