shoe writes “This via Tree Hugger… There’s a competitor to Netflix in town, with a twist. They’re offering books for trade. America’s Bookshelf is half library, half book store. Books are $3.50, delivered to you, and you can keep them as long as you’d like. ABS will send you a postage paid envelope to return the book from their office (run on entirely recycled materials!).
Probably not a bad service for people who can’t get to their local library on a regular basis for whatever reason. Or those people who just can’t seem to return a book on time.
Direct link is here: America’s Bookshelf.“
Paperbackswap.com
Paperbackswap.com is basically the same idea. Unlike Bookshelf they don’t have an annual fee and their credits are cheaper $2.75 instead of $3.50.
Why Not Use Bookcrossing.com?
I really don’t get it. . . why pay to borrow books when you can get them free at the library or share them with others on bookcrossing (with people you can communicate and build a relationship with), instead of dealing with a marketer who is skimming money from you? Am I missing something? Or am I just a dirty socialist?
I suppose it could be a good idea for those who don’t have any books to begin with, but you can get plenty — cheap — at library used book sales, just to name one source.
Why get something for free and share with others when you can pay for it and make somebody (not you) rich instead? America, what a country!
Ron from Ohio via NY
leppojoove on bookcrossing.com
A book is a book
This comment falls into the idea that a “book is a book”
I suppose it could be a good idea for those who don’t have any books to begin with, but you can get plenty — cheap — at library used book sales, just to name one source.
Sure they have lots of books at Thrift stores and Library booksales but do they have the one you want to read.
On the subject of the idea of “a book is a book” a university library I was previously associated with was looking into adding a new wing. The president of the university was at a meeting with some of the librarians to talk about the addition. The president pointed to one of the existing wings of the library and said, “I don’t know why we need a new wing I don’t think the students have read all these books yet.” The horrible scary part is that he was in no way joking. Here was the president of a university and he did not get the concept of a LIBRARY at all.
I know that university president
I have got to know: was this at the University of Alabama?
Re:A book is a book
Have you ever been to the Bookcrossing website? Maybe you should try it – it might increase your scope of books to read. (Also, it’s very easy to find recent bestsellers, among other books, at library sales.) Bookcrossing has nearly half a million users from all over the world, with nearly 3 million books registered, a large portion of those available for the asking. I browsed for a little while at the pay-per-use site (“America’s Bookshelf”) and of the half-dozen or so categories I viewed, none had more than three books, and none of which was published before 2000. I think they might have the attitude, “A book is a book, and people will buy anything.” Just for a test, I picked a random author listed on America’s Bookshelf (Piers Anthony — I don’t read sci-fi, I don’t know him) — they had three titles (12 fewer than my library, btw). Bookcrossing has 15 titles (including 3 boxed sets) — six available now, most of the others possibly available soon.
So, to summarize: no, I don’t believe “A book is a book.” I also don’t believe that things have to cost money to have value.
leppojoove
Re:I know that university president
It was a midwest university but is was not Alabama. Unfortunate news about that is it looks like we have more than one university prez without a clue