Be a Mooch

I'm a Moocher. I admit it. But that's OK.

It's BookMooch - something I picked up on at LibraryThing. It's very simple... you list the books you have and no longer want, which gives you the right to peruse everyone else's list of unwanted books. If you see something you like, you notify the lister and he sends it to you. Of course, it works the other way too - if someone wants one of your books, you send it to them. No money ever changes hands. BookMooch assigns points, tracks the transactions, and generally keeps everyone honest.

BookMooch is the second social computing site that has pulled me (after LibraryThing. In fact, BookMooch and LibraryThing are linked into each other - you can instantly see how many people want any book you might already have. Need a Mooching point to pick up that great acquisition someone's offering out there? Then check to see what's hot in your library and send it out to be Mooched. As soon as it's snapped up, you've got your point and your new book.

Of course, I really shouldn't be adding new books right now. LibraryThing has inspired me to go through my holdings and do a little pruning. I'd planned to give my excess to the New Orleans Symphony Book Fair, and they'll probably still get most of it, but now I've listed 75 or so books on BookMooch. In return I've picked up several volumes I'd either been looking for, had put off buying, or didn't know I needed.

Check out my BookMooch inventory. If you see something you like, Mooch it! Also, I'm currently up to 1940 titles in my LibraryThing catalog with one one full set of shelves still to go.

Be a Moocher.