Conceived, designed, written and administered by John Buckman, who also runs the online record label, Magnatune, Bookmooch is a community for exchanging used books, like an online second hand book store-slash-literary swop shop. Book lovers from around the world gather on the site to swap books they’re tired of, for books they really want, that tickle their fancy or they might’ve been searching for. The site correctly states how ‘emotionally difficult it is’ for book lovers to get rid of books. This is a fantastic way to ‘find a good home for your books’, and keep them in circulation.

Intrigued by the term ‘mooch’, I’ve included the definition as per the site: "to obtain something without paying for it, or to borrow something without intending to return it." So, joining BookMooch is a way to get books without paying for them (apart from postage fees), and without any intention of returning the book (unlike a library) – but you can if you want to! Every time you give someone a book, you earn a point and can get any book you want in return, from anyone else at BookMooch. Once you've read a book, you can keep it forever, or put it back into BookMooch for someone else.

As the site is international, one can access it in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and Chinese. There are also forums and statistics on the site for those who want to do more than merely log their books’ travels.

For bibliophiles looking for even more interactivity, there’s a BookMooch blog, a wiki, and a space on Second Life. There’s also a strong feel good factor as you can donate your points to certain charities in need.

There’s no cost in joining the website, only in posting your books. If you stick to swapping within our shores you’ll save on postage costs, but swapping books overseas will earn members more points. The points system is quite tricky to explain, but the site offers a handy table.

You can keep a "book wish list" that will let you know when books you’ve requested become available in the catalogue.

I think BookMooch is such a good idea! Bibliophiles around the world unite! ;)

Today's topic: Recommendations. Do you use LT's recommendations feature? Have you found any good books by using it? Do you use the anti-recommendations, or the "special sauce" recommendations? How do you find out about books you want to read?

Today's topic: Book-swapping. Do you do it? What site(s) do you use? How did you find out about them? What do you think of them? Do you use LT's book-swapping column feature for information on what to swap? Do you participate in any of the LT communities that discuss bookswapping, like the Bookmooch group for example?

I certainly do book-swapping, how else could I have such a magnificent Mt. TBR? I'm grateful for BookMooch, because without it I wouldn't have found LibraryThing, and without LT I wouldn't be blogging. I heard about BookMooch on NBC's Today Show, when they'd had a segment on free and almost free sites on the internet. The name "BookMooch" was catchy and easy to remember, which is a good thing because it was a week or so before I finally got around to signing up.

From BookMooch, I found LibraryThing through the "LibraryThing add" button. After a month or so on LT, I found out about PaperBackSwap, which is different enough from BookMooch to warrant both accounts. I'm very thankful for LibraryThing, because through the "other places to find ARCs" thread (now ARC Junkies group... YaY!) I found a lot of opportunities to get ARCs, and finally graduated to a blog, and more books than I could read in 2 years snowed in and alone!

I like the LT swap column fair enough, though it's rarely accurate, and includes the UK only sites in the "books available" numbers. I do participate and enjoy the BookMooching group on LT. My current favorite BM thread is the "Book search for friends" one.

I not only enjoy getting books, but also sending them out to people who I know have been dying to read a book I've enjoyed, usually... though there was one book I was so glad to get out of my house (it was the worse book I've ever read).

Don't forget to enter to win a $20 Borders Gift Card... or a $10... and now that there are over 500 entries, a $5 gift card is on the table! If we hit 600, I'll add another $10, and at 700 another $5! That'll make $50 in My First Ever Giveaway!

Here's a math problem for you!

12,0000 steps on the pedometer + 5000 feet elevation + 120 minutes hiking + 90 minutes driving + 90 total SPFs applied (2x45) + 6 miles round trip + 2 very dirty shoes + 1 bottle of water + 1 trail mix bar = 1 Sarah, the Lobstah Gurl

Even with that much SPF, a hat, and sunglasses I still ended up quite red from hiking around Mount St. Helens today. I took pictures that I'll get up tomorrow, but none of the pretty color of my skin.

I am incredibly sun sensitive. I've known that for a few years now, but refuse to stay out of the sun. I should know better, but I'm too stubborn and too in love with the warmth and pleasure of being outside in the Oregon summertime that I just can't stay in. I also hate to sweat so I refuse to wear long-sleeves and pants while it's so gorgeous. So, I play outside and then whine (and show off) my lovely sunburns and then I move on and do it again. Next week I plan to make a few doctor's appointments to do some other check ups and I will have them look me over for weirdness, but until then, I shall love the sun like no other weather.

This is post #20. How cool is that? Lame. I know. I'm thinking about importing my old posts from previous journals over here ... just to have an archive so that new readers get more of a sense of who I really am. Maybe tomorrow night. Maybe.

I finally saw No Country for Old Men, and fell asleep during the last 5 minutes of it. Until then I liked it. Then I was just REALLY confused. Gwen & Russ were confused about the end too, though, so I didn't feel left out!

Tomorrow holds some book editing for Russ (yes, the published author lets me edit his work before it goes out!) and two more loads of laundry. It probably also holds some more lovin' on Max and the eating of tasty foods. Last night at dinner Gwen served the most fantastic red wine I've EVER had. I am going to get the name of it, because it tasted like magic in a bottle. She and I drank the whole thing. *grin* I'm sure Russ was glad to see us both passed out by 10pm last night after all our laughing.

More randomness? I'm reading Where the Heart Is (by Billie Letts) and enjoying it. I'd seen the movie years ago but did't know it was a book until BookMooch recommended it. (If you aren't a BookMooch member, I recommend heading that way and joining. FREE BOOKS!)

Alright, this burnt blogger is ready for sleep. She will see all of you crazies tomorrow!

So I mentioned that I joined BookMooch in my last post. In the first few hours a book of mine got mooched and then this morning as well. I packaged everything and even made some labels. I made sure everything was bubble wrapped and secure and went off to the post office. I know this is strange, but I absolutely LOVE the post office. I love mail. It's so organized and so complex and I think it's freaking awesome. These were the first two packages I had ever sent out and by gosh I'll do it again! The shipping costs are ridiculously high, but still, sending mail thrills me. I love organizing everything. Apparently I'm psychotic. I also love getting mail, but that's a whole other story!

Professor Willard Wisely says…

Salutations, book promotion ruffians, and welcome again to AuthorTreeHouse, home of AuthorTree’s marketing masterminds.

As you already know, keeping with the latest publishing announcements and Internet book marketing software can be difficult. In order to relieve some of the burden from your shoulders, our bloggers compiled the below list of the best book blogs to date. So without further ado, here are the ten blogs authors should know:

Protagonize Blog

http://blog.protagonize.com/

Read the relevant publishing news for emerging writers and Internet book marketers at the Protagonize Blog. While you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to also register with Protagonize, an online collaborative writing community.

Bookgasm: Reading Material to Get Excited About

http://www.bookgasm.com

For a glimpse at what critics might say about your book, check out the insightful book reviews at Bookgasm. Find your genre and seek the best reviewer for your publication.

Print Is Dead

http://www.printisdeadblog.com/

Visit Print Is Dead for interesting posts about the publishing industry and innovative technologies that are revolutionizing the printing process. Readers will definitely start to think outside the box when it comes to their future publications.

Emerging Writers Network

http://emergingwriters.typepad.com/

Emerging Writers Network – the name says it all. Visit their Web site for tons of writing and promotion resources, and read their discussion threads on various marketing and publishing topics.

Self-Publishing Blog

http://www.fonerbooks.com/cornered.htm

Wondering about self-publishing or publishing trends of the future? Then, you should certainly visit this Self-Publishing Blog, for updates, news and invaluable advice about the publishing industry as well as self-publishing in general.

big bad book blog

http://www.bigbadbookblog.com/

Divided into categories like news, publishing, marketing, design and writing, this big bad book blog (by Greenleaf book group) is your one-stop educational and entertainment hub for everything publishing.

DIY Poetry Publishing Cooperative

http://diypublishing.blogspot.com/

Not just news, but an update on book events across the United States, DIY Poetry Publishing Cooperative provides its browsers with valuable information and ideas for the promotion of your new book.

ProBlogger

http://www.problogger.net/

Shifting gears, you’ll need to understand Internet marketing if you hope to penetrate online writing communities and maintain blogs. As an amazing and trusted online marketing site, ProBlogger provides real time news updates, helpful tips and dynamic marketing strategies for authors.

BookMooch Blog

http://blog.bookmooch.com/

Like Protagonize, BookMooch Blog is the fresh Web perspective on publishing and content distribution, while maintaining a community of readers. Think about joining their progressive community and earning some exchange points while watching their videos and reading their amazing posts.

Blog of a Bookslut

http://www.bookslut.com/blog/

Quirky, informative, honest – who could ask for more? Blog of a Bookslut makes reading, author interviews and sheer curiosity personal, so you can enjoy yourself as much as you can learn about the book industry.

###

That’s all for today, folks! Class dismissed!

This post has been brought to you by Professor Willard Wisely, Director of Forest School of Marketing.

I just added another book to my Bookmooch collection. I've reserved this book for 7 days on my Bookmooch account. This means, if you're my friend on Bookmooch, you'll have first dibs on this book. Not a friend? No problem. Just sign into your bookmooch account and add me (take2max) to your friends!

Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell

Book blurb:
Book blurb:

The new novel that fans of the bestselling author have been waiting for, about three sexy, powerful career women who will do anything to stay at the top of their fields

Victory Ford is the darling of the fashion world. Single, attractive, and iconoclastic, she has worked for years to create her own signature line. As Victory struggles to keep her company afloat, she learns crucial lessons about what she really wants in a relationship.

Nico O'Neilly is the glamorous, brilliant editor of Bonfire Magazine—the pop-culture bible for fashion, show business, and politics. Considered one of the most powerful women in publishing, she seems to have it all. But in a mid-life crisis, she suddenly realizes this isn't enough.

Wendy Healy's chutzpah has propelled her to the very top of the cut-throat movie industry. When it becomes clear that a competitor is trying to oust her, something has to give—and Wendy must decide between her career and her marriage.

In Lipstick Jungle, Bushnell once again delivers an addictive page-turner of sex and scandal that will keep readers enthralled and guessing to the very last page.

If you would like to join Bookmooch (or if you're already a member, look me up!) and mooch books off of me, you can find my inventory and my account information here. My Bookmooch ID is: take2max - in case the link doesn't work and you want to find me. :)

Sorry, I'm only shipping to the U.S at this time. International shipping just isn't in the budget right now. :(

I've got some bookmooch points burning a hole in my pocket. Any bookmoochers out there that want to get rid of some of their books? If so, leave me a link to your inventory in the comment section and I'll take a look!

Check Dear Reader soon for my review of Lipstick Jungle

Nåja. Jag vill ju trots allt ha mina moochpoäng, så för hundralappen drygt är nu Ya-ya-flickorna på väg hem till mig från CDON. Annandag midsommar har nämligen inte så många IRL-bokhandlar öppet i den här stan. Åhléns var den enda och där fanns den ju förstås inte. CDON var för övrigt den enda nätbokhandeln (som jag hittade) som hade boken på lager, dessutom. Dagens i-landsproblem, alltså ;)

Investeringen i ny bok+frakt till Tyskland hoppas jag i slutändan ska ge mig ett par tre böcker till, gratis hemskickade via Bookmooch (och jag hoppas tjejen som får boken har vett att uppskatta den ;)). Visst hade jag kunnat neka henne moochningen och helt enkelt säga sorry, den här har jag inte längre i min ägo, men nej, jag vill ju kunna moocha mera :D

Efter att jag till slut hade fixat allt det här, så fick jag fick belöningssurfa runt på Bookmooch. Jag hoppas att jag får James Freys A million little pieces från en amerikansk tjej. Hoppsan!

Och sen har vi skaffat oss stenkoll på vilka böcker som finns på Bookcrossing och vilka som finns på Bookmooch...

1. Get the book title out of the email.
2. Get the the postal address out of the email.
3. Enter the book title into Bento database
4. Enter the address into Bento database
5. Print the book packing slip from the Bento database.
   
6. Import the address over to Endicia and print the postage.
7. Back to the email and click on the "Respond to Request" link and open Firefox at the linked page. There I could respond accept and put in the date, or list it as sent.

As you can see this is a complicated system process, but I've tried to simplify it to get to where it is at, but I would love to automate it so I couldn't have to do so much manual copy and pasting.

The first book was Third Helpings by Calvin Trillin, a thin, humorous volume written in the 1980s. I read a selection of Trillin's writing in American Food Writing and enjoyed it, so I added him to my "to read" list along with quite a few others. His writing reminded of nothing so much as Erma Bombeck, a writer who I had entirely forgotten until I read this book - even though I (embarassingly) read all the books of hers that my library had when I was in junior high. I enjoyed this book, but I think it was good that it is a short one, because his writing becomes rather predictable pretty quickly. I don't think I need to read any of his other offerings, but this one was just the humorous break I needed for a day or so.

The second book I read this weekend (okay, okay, I finished it Monday morning on the train to work), was Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey. Jaffrey is a noted actress and cookbook author and this is her memoir of growing up in India. As you might expect, the book contains a lot of discussions of food, but it is also an interesting, personal look at the time surrounding Indian Independence from the eyes of a child. I love memoirs, and I think one of the things that I like about them, in addition to the fact that they are intensely personal, is that they are often self-limiting, dealing only with a certain phase of a person's life. I think this focus makes the books stronger, and Jaffrey's restriction of the book to her childhood, certainly does that for me here.

Sen så kan ju inte ett köpstopp gälla böcker som ges bort, det förstår ju vem som helst. D.v.s det är helt legitimt att moocha böcker man vill ha. Jag har precis fått tag på The devil in the white city från Irland, nämligen...

Image via Wikipedia

Just my random twitter scribblings. Twitter helps with making a really random blog post.

• 11:19 Boo is loving on me #
• 11:32 Boo is licking my nose like a dog. Someone please inform him the he is a CAT. #
• 12:05 The box springs are gone. You have no ideal how it feels to finally get rid of that thing. #
• 12:22 Wow! 9 people have the BookMooch Story on thier wishlist. So me & 8 others. bookmooch.com/m/detail/BM1212277727760099044 #
• 14:27 Mcallister's rotel dip. Yum. #
• 20:19 Really good baklava cheesecake at Marietta Dinner. #

Automatically batched by LoudTwitter

This is a brand new undertaking, complete with its own blog and a hosting system to track the journals! First, join http://www.bookmooch.com which is a book trading site. There is no cost to join. The concept behind bookmooch is to trade books you no longer want with others. For every ten books you add to the system, you get one point. with that point, you can get a free book of your choice. We’ve utilized this system for it’s sheer simplicity. Rather than mooching just books, you may use your points to mooch traveling art journals!

Search for journals using this keyword: BMJournal

If no journals are presently available, you can search for ‘unavailable’ titles, and then add the ones that interest you to your wishlist. Every time one of the journals becomes available again, you can mooch it!

Click to see images of some of the journals.

People who have obtained a journal or released a journal can leave a note in the comments associated with that specific journal.

Come join us for the journey! After all, getting a journal from 1000 Journals is harder than winning the lottery! Bookmooch journals are much easier to obtain, because it is strictly limited to BookMooch members.

Thanks for participating, from the folks at The BookMooch Journal Project

I have joined in with the journalling craze through bookmooch. I have three journals starting their journies soon. they are

I wish i was .....

i wish i was ..... is a journal about all those places you'd rather be than where you are at the moment. Living in a different country/ state or even just taking a break from work and doing something unusual for a day/week.

Using a two page spread, pictures, art, writing whatever you feel best shows where you would rather be.

Quotes, poems and other tidbits

A travelling journal to collect peoples favourite quotes, haiku's, poems, inspirational sayings and other little snippets that you really like and want to share.

add as many things as you like to the journal, remembering not to write or destroy anyone else's entry. feel free to decorate the page in any way you feel you want to (cutting up pages that other people have written on is not ok) to enhance your contribution.

The little book of stamp art
www.bookmooch.com/m/detail/BM1213631672517095188 is the link for the little book of stamp art.

Have you had cool stamps arrive on your mail and thought wow that would make a great piece of art but never got round to doing anything with it?

Now's your chance to change that.

This little book is just bigger than an ATC but on each page i want you to create a little piece of art inspired by a stamp you have received (include the stamp on your page!). One to two pages per person please.

* on the back of your page please put your name (moocher id, real name or both) the date and the title of you little piece of art!
*please don't keep the book for any longer than 2 weeks and please mooch it back to this page so people know where to look.

WHEN it's completely full please message me and i'll mooch it back from you.

Our A/C returned Sunday. I love you air conditioner man. 

Sunday was spent enjoying Corner Bakery with L, taking a walk at the park, watching my beloved Cubbies, and doing other non-drama related things.

I also whored myself out over the internet.  You can now find me on Good Reads & Bookmooch.  Let me tell you I am quite moochable.  I have eleven books to send out already. 

Thats the weekend recap.  Im back to my wild ways on June 27th until then I will try and be as interesting as possible.

I just added another book to my Bookmooch collection:

I Am No One You Know by Joyce Carol Oates

Book blurb:

I Am No One You Know contains nineteen startling stories that bear witness to the remarkably varied lives of Americans of our time. In "Fire," a troubled young wife discovers a rare, radiant happiness in an adulterous relationship. In "Curly Red," a girl makes a decision to reveal a family secret, and changes her life irrevocably. In "The Girl with the Blackened Eye," selected for The Best American Mystery Stories 2001, a girl pushed to an even greater extreme of courage and desperation manages to survive her abduction by a serial killer. And in "Three Girls," two adventuresome NYU undergraduates seal their secret love by following, and protecting, Marilyn Monroe in disguise at Strand Used Books on a snowy evening in 1956.

These vividly rendered portraits of women, men, and children testify to Oates's compassion for the mysterious and luminous resources of the human spirit.

If you want it, then mooch it from me. :) Bookmooch, that is. I'm a member of Bookmooch which is an online forum to swap books with other bookworms. Here's a brief explanation:

Give & receive: Every time you give someone a book, you earn a point and can get any book you want from anyone else at BookMooch. Once you've read a book, you can keep it forever or put it back into BookMooch for someone else, as you wish.

No cost: there is no cost to join or use this web site: your only cost is mailing your books to others.

If you would like to join Bookmooch (or if you're already a member, look me up!) and mooch books off of me, you can find my inventory and my account information here. My Bookmooch ID is: take2max - in case the link doesn't work and you want to find me. :)

Sorry, I'm only shipping to the U.S at this time. International shipping just isn't in the budget right now. :(

I've got some bookmooch points burning a hole in my pocket. Any bookmoochers out there that want to get rid of some of their books? If so, leave me a link to your inventory in the comment section and I'll take a look!

Fortunately, Down to a Sunless Sea is a lovely collection of fifteen stories that explores relationships between people, society and self. Reoccurring throughout reviews on this collection are comments of its darkness (dark is an oft used adjective here), deviants, and damaged characters. The foreword implicates “hopeless circumstances” and a “transience of life.” I did not leave the book with such a dreadful sense of chiaroscuro but I did close the book with a smile and promptly read it a second time. These are stories of children and their complicated entanglements with adults, stories of the sometimes disturbing influence of our parents, stories that whisper the influence of history and Hollywood, and at least a few stories startlingly different in style that add a richness to Down to a Sunless Sea.

The title story “Down to a Sunless Sea” is a collection of moments from Adam’s childhood. They explore an almost Freudian relationship with his family and mother in particular. “Herbie” is also a young boy and only son in a family with a proud work ethic and poor communication but enough snobbishness to refuse Herbie to join his friend in a shoe polish business. Adam and Herbie live in worlds where the discovery of masturbation is the great American embarrassment. These boys act out, Herbie as quasi-animalistic and Adam expressing non-existing physical ailments. “Billy’s Mirrored Wall” is the tale of the realization of class distinction when Billy comes home and tells his mother of his friend’s wealth. Billy feels “enhanced” by this relationship but Billy concludes the story as an adult and an ingrained sense of class hierarchy. The stories “Mortise and Tenon” and “Unanswerable” also explore fraught or destroyed relationships between child and parent.

Focusing on Judaism and its history, “Alabaster” is of a woman “liv[ing] only in fragments” and the number on her hand indicates her experience with the Holocaust. She relays her story in a metaphor to a boy concluding that he can’t understand, “How could you?”, and that his shelter and youth potentially limit him from grasping what she explains. Following is “Juan Peron’s Hands,” which details the preparation, thoughts, and actions of the man who breaks into Juan Peron’s mausoleum and steals the ex-president of Argentina’s hands. One of my favorites “Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Father Was a Nazi,” begins with an all too excellent from Roger Ebert and views Arnold’s peculiar relationship with his father and now America.

One of the quirky almost displaced stories is “The Chatham Bear” and my favorite in the collection. In a local feature story-esque manner, a community’s avid response to an unknown bear appearing in Chatham contributes to the lack of response of the appallingly normal report of a dog killing another dog in front of its owner as well as the narrator’s witnessing of an act of domestic violence. “Little Errands” is an obsessive story of a person living with the dread and concern of second-guessing and nearly the entire story puzzles over whether or not a letter was mailed; however, it is an interesting portrayal of what people unquestioningly accept as the truth and circumstance of their lives. In “Echo” “All Jonathan has are reminiscences” and the story is told from a friend watching Jonathan distance himself from everyone because of possible loss. Jon is “insular” and “Echo” retells the story of narcissistic attraction. “For A While, Here, In This Moment” is a disembodied tale like watching yourself from the outside and an existence to “bear witness.” “Nicholas,” written in the style and voice of a student uninterested in school, challenges his environment and academic structure.

I admit that I did not care for “Down to a Sunless Sea” and “I’ll Make It, I Think.” Reading disjointedly, “Down to a Sunless Sea” has some dense word choice and there are awkward moments when Freese tries to evoke an emotion or response from the reader, but it feels like he’s trying too hard. For “I’ll Make It, I Think” it is more a matter of personal taste and style. I admit my first reading was somewhat confused with the nicknamed appendages and the character’s exploration of sexual frustration and deviancy. If for no other reason, I did not feel these two stories were on equal footing with the other stories. However, as these stories open the collection I admit as a more casual reader I may have chosen not bother finishing, but reading to the end of Down to a Sunless Sea is a worthwhile experience.

Currently available on Bookmooch: Down to a Sunless Sea by Mathias B. Freese.

[1] I would not really say “gosh” but I might as well in my writing.

I love the concept and after about ten minutes of exploring the Bookmooch website, it is easy to use. The only downside for me: what is and what is not available through Bookmooch. Listing what books are most available brings up hundreds of copies of Patterson, Grisham, and Crichton. Not exactly my cup of tea and none of the books I considered requesting at the time appeared. My fingers remain crossed though that with patience and a little more use I may become an avid Bookmoocher.