Sometimes I forget to return a library book for weeks at a time and it seems almost worth buying it by the time I return it. Rather than grapple with library due dates and lose, I decided to find out what online book clubs are about at PaperBackSwap.

PaperBackSwap is free to join and gives you the opportunity to swap your paperback books to receive ones listed by other people. When you register 9 paperback books you are willing to give up, you receive 3 welcoming credits from PaperBackSwap. Each of these credits equals 1 point and with 1 point, you can get a paperback book. You browse the online library of over 1,500,000 titles, easily organized by genre, title and author, then decide which paperback you want to read and click the order button. The paperback is sent to you in the mail and it is yours to keep.

When another PaperBackSwap member chooses to receive one of the paperback books you have listed, you will receive a request. You print out a wrapper, add your own postage and mail the book. The average cost to mail a paperback book is a little over $2. When the member receives the book you mailed, you will get 1 credit so you can order another book of your own.

I like that PaperBackSwap is free and that you get to keep the book. You never have to remember to return anything or pay overdue fees if you forget. I also appreciate that you simply pay postage on the book you send to another member rather than pay fees or postage for the service along the way. Overall, I think becoming a member of www.paperbackswap.com will encourage me to read more frequently because it will be easier and more convenient. Apparently, plenty of other people feel the same way because PaperBackSwap was featured in publications such as USA Today, Good Housekeeping and The New York Times.

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