The last time the flu had me laid out on the living room couch, I counted the books on the shelves lining the room. There were over 400, and that was just in one room. Shelves, stacks, and secret stashes filled four other rooms. If you’re at all like me, you understand that 400 is just a drop in the bucket of all the books I want to read, own, or just see sitting on a shelf waiting for the day when I have time to read them. After all, Thomas Jefferson had over 6,000 books in his library. Unfortunately, I don’t always have the money to buy every book my heart desires, and the secondhand stores in my area offer too many westerns and romances, and not enough history and recent releases, to interest me.

Recently I discovered Paperback Swap which everyone in the reading word should know about. When you join, they give you 3 “free” credits to request books before anyone even requests one of yours. Choose from over one million books listed on the site! Everything from out-of-print books to Oprah’s latest pick to how to do just about anything. There are no membership fees, trading fees or credit fee -- it's totally free. The only time you spend money is for shipping when a member requests one of your books. It used to be $1.59, but the evil U.S. Post Office has hiked the rate to $2.13 as of May 14, 2007. But it's still a bargain compared to the $6.99 you usually pay for a paperback or even the half-off list in secondhand stores.

And "paperback" is a bit misleading, since there are also audiobooks and hardcovers. The member listing lets you know what you’re getting. I received a first edition by Bill Maudlin (not really worth anything, but…) and Agatha Christie hardcovers. If it’s a book you know you’ll want to keep, pick a hardcover when possible -- they last longer. Except for the Maudlin, every book I’ve received has been like new -- no bent covers, no writing on pages, and no books that smell of cigarette smoke. The member posting the Maudlin emailed to explain the watermark, but hey, the book is over 60 years old. Would I really find one in pristine condition? If you receive a problem book, you can report it to the powers that be at paperbackswap.com.

The site is full of fun extras like maps to track where you mailed books to and received them from, a page of member writings and book reviews, forums, and occasional contests (they had one recently to guess when the millionth book would be added to the site).

Try it. It’s addictive. Tell them Jodi sent you.