De-clutter Your Bookshelf

If anyone is guilty of keeping books as a form of trophies or just has a genuine dislike and even a fear of getting rid of books, it’s me. I have bookshelves full of books, some of which I’ve had since my childhood and while I know I will most likely never read some of the books again, books to me are like lives that I once had, lives that I borrowed or tried on for the amount of time it took me to devour them. Books have always been my escape from the routine of daily life and while I may not read those books again, getting rid of any of them would feel like throwing away a part of my life. But you know that you have a problem when books start taking over your house and while all of your books may have a special place in your heart, sometimes it’s just time to let go and in the process, you have the opportunity to share the stories in the books you own and even get new books cheaply or even for free.

Book swapping is great for people who want to get rid of old books and make room for new books. Granted, with book swapping you will pay either shipping costs or a set fee for books you receive. However, you can book swap for free with friends, co-workers or family members, but when you don’t have that option, book swapping services are great.

There are a few websites that all works in the same way. With these websites there is no membership fee, but you pay for the shipping of each book you send out and for each book you ship you earn credits that go towards other books you want.

• Bookmooch
• PaperBackSwap
• Readers United
• WhatsOnMyBookshelf

FrugalReader is a book trading service with free standard membership that works like the above book swapping websites do but also includes paid premium membership that comes with some extra perks.

Title Trader works a lot like the other book swapping websites but is unique because it extends not only to books but also CDs and DVDs.

Novel Action works a lot differently than the other sites. There is a membership fee of $25 per year, which comes to a little over $2 a month. There are no transaction fees, but you pay $4.80 for the shipping of up to six pounds of books.

For the UK book lovers there’s ReadItSwapIt which you can give and receive books and pay only for the books you ship to others. It doesn’t use a credit system like the other websites and you are free to refuse to send books requested by others.

These websites are foolproof in helping you de-clutter your bookshelves. Don’t be afraid to get rid of books you either didn’t like that much or are sure you are not going to read again. Books don’t have to be trophies of how well read you are or how smart you are when there are so many other books out there to indulge yourself in.