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Okay, they can't all be about science, my cats and kittens. Today I'm going to tell you why BookMooch is pretty much the best things to happen to books since Gutenberg (and LibraryThing). I'll get back to the science next time (thinking about a discourse on Saturn's moon Titan, maybe? Or the Voyager deep space article I was working on?)

For those of you who don't know, this is the quick answer to how BookMooch works:

1. List books you would not mind giving away (this is the hardest part... I had to buy used ones I had no interest in)

2. Get 1/10th of a point for every one you list.

3. When you have more than 1 point, browse the site for a book you want. They have a ton of stuff. 3000+ books a day being mooched.

4. Request the book from the owner, thereby giving them one of your points, allowing them to grab a book from someone else.

5. They owner then mails it to you for free.

6. When someone else wants one of your books they give you a point and you mail them the book, choosing the cheapest postal service thereby keeping your costs to a minimum.

7. Read, repeat & enjoy.

Now, this is why it's been so much fun for me. I've received these books for free (so far):

Moonseed, Transcendent and Exultant, three by Stephen Baxter (pretty much the best SF author working today) - Oracle Night by Paul Auster (a very cool and diverse "literary" author I love) - River Of Blue Fire and City Of Golden Shadow, two by Tad Williams Books 1 & 2 of 4 book epic techno/fantasy called Otherland) - The Eyes of the Dragon, Different Seasons and Storm Of The Century, three by Stephen King (anyone who knows me knows my King obsession) - Complete & Unabridged by George Orwell (about the most important writer ever) - Dreamside by Graham Joyce (very unusual, but very decent, British fantasy/horror author) - 3001: The Final Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke (as if he needs an explanation... "Big Three") - The Panda's Thumb and The Flamingo's Smile, two by Stephen Jay Gould (preeminent natural historian and essayist) - Adam's Curse by Bryan Sykes (renowned geneticist) - Me Talk Pretty One Day and Holidays On Ice, two by David Sedaris (autobiographical humorist and essayist featured frequently on This American Life on NPR... hilarious) - Life Of Pi by Yann Martel (my favorite book written in the last couple years, Booker Prize, brilliant) - A Brief History Of Time by Stephen Hawking (the next Einstein: physicist, genius) - Foundation, The Gods Themselves, Prelude To Foundation, I, Robot, Pebble In The Sky, Caves Of Steel, Foundation & Empire, and Second Foundation, eight by Isaac Asimov (another with no explanation needed... "Big Three" again) - Across The Sea Of Suns by Gregory Benford (nifty sf) - Virtual Light, Idoru and All Tomorrow's Parties, three by William Gibson (founder of the Cyberpunk movement) - Venus and Moonrise, two by Ben Bova (Bova wrote the epic "grand tour" series of novels exploring humanity's growth through the Solar System) - Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (probably one of the most famous SF books of all time) - The Postman by David Brin (remember that Kostner movie? this is way better, apocalyptic) - Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (two of the most talented British fantasy authors alive) - & Watership Down by Richard Adams (the famous book about... well... rabbits.)

On top of those I also got about a half dozen books for J (baking & mystery, mostly). Very flipin' cool. That's about 42 absolutely free books by my count. That I would, for any one of them, have paid at least $5 for. A few of them, even more. The coolest part about this whole business is that almost all of these books are hardcover first eds. Those 8 Asimov books I mooched? Special collector editions, absolutely beautiful! And they go for $30-60 a piece on Amazon.

So what did I have to give up all together to get this great bounty, you might ask? How about 28 used books that I did not want anyway and that I bought for a dollar or less each (most about $0.20) and about $45-$50 in postage. Packaging I re-use from books sent to me AND I still have 15 unused point in my account (There are other ways to get points such as "charity" and over-seas mooching).

The point is, is that BookMooch is... phenomenal. I don't know how else to say it. It's like book porn, like a free all you can eat book buffet, drowning in a sea of book delight. It's booklicious. So go sign up and lets trade something.

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." -Cicero 100BC/43BC