BookMooch is an online trading site devoted to trading books. You can give away books that you no longer want and receive other books that you’ve never read from other people. Unlike many other trading websites you don’t have to do a straight swap. When you swap something on the site you earn a form of currency which is called points. These points can then be used to purchase other books from the site. This makes it much easier to find people to swap with as you don’t necessarily have to wait for someone to have something that you want before you can make the trade. BookMooch was founded by John Buckman who also runs a number of other online websites, and an online record label. It is becoming increasingly popular especially as a way to get certain books in countries where they are not normally available. Rather than finding someone that has something you want to trade with, you basically trade with the website. This means that you earn a form of currency for the books that you give away on the website. You can then use these points to buy other books from other people. It encourages books to be sent internationally as anyone sending a book internationally receives 3 points instead of the normal 2, even though it still only costs 2 points for the buyer. The design isn’t quite as clean as many other Web2.0 applications, but that doesn’t mean that it’s unpleasant. It will however take some getting used to. Finding your way around the site seems clumsy at first, and it isn’t as streamlined as some of the other trading websites. It is however quite nice when you get used to it as all of the books are split into categories. The category list however is not formatted and is just a long list of different categories. The search function works well and is probably the best way of finding a book that you know the name of. If you want the book then you simply need to click the "mooch it" button, you will need to sign up first. Signing up to BookMooch is very easy, you just need to choose a username, enter your postal address and choose a password. There is also a security check but this one isn’t quite as annoying as the ones that you can’t read properly. Once you’ve signed up you can then enter a list of books that you want to give away. Using BookMooch to swap your books is completely free, the only time that you will pay is when you send a book out and have to pay postage. The site does not charge anything or the services on offer and there are no noticeable adverts although there are quite a few links to Amazon. BookMooch is a perfect site for any book lover that wants to read as many books as possible without having to go to the library. You will however have to pay the postage to swap the books. This basically operates like an online library, however you are free to read the books for as long as you like without any late charges.

• Earn points when you trade books with other people
• Spend your points on other books
• Get rewarded for sending books internationally
• Environmentally friendly – less books needed means less paper

http://bookmooch.com/