If your wallet is taking a hit as a result of an insatiable love for books, worry no more. You can add to your growing collection or find a new home for your old books without the guilt. There is a plethora of Websites that will indulge your need to read-for free!
Bookins (www.bookins.com) presents a hassle-free way of exchanging books by covering postage, shipment tracking, and even the cost of replacing lost or damaged books. and every book you receive is
$4.49, regardless of weight. All you have to do is make a list of the books you would like to trade and receive and then place your order. The books you receive are yours unless you want to swap again after reading them. The Bookins automated system handles all trades so there’s no bidding and no need to find a trading partner. Instead of leaving all the work up to you, you leave the work to them.Paperback Swap (www.paperbackswap.com) allows members to exchange books with other readers and pay nothing more than postage. With more than 1 million books to choose from, you’re sure to find a good read. But don’t be fooled by the name-Paperback Swap also lets you exchange hardcover books.
Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) is an online e-book catalog that allows customers to download books for free. Readers have a choice of more than 20,000 e-books in more than 50 languages, including Afrikaans, Sanskrit, and Spanish. The copyright for most of these books has expired in the U.S., so they can be downloaded and copied with impunity. However, they may still be under copyright law in other countries.
The Online Books Page (onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu) provides access to books that can be read for free on your computer screen. The site’s search feature enables users to browse by country, century, ethnicity, category, or name. A unique find, this site has a special section dedicated to prominent African American women writers from as far back as the 17th century. In celebration of Black History Month, look up great black women writers such as Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson, Ida B. Wells, and Harriet E. Wilson.
Title Trader (www.title trader.com) lets you trade much more than books. Here you can swap CDs, movies, video games, and magazines with members from around the globe. The basic trading function of the site allows you to get rid of old music, books, and DVDs that you no longer use and exchange them for others at no cost.