Joining Shelfari and Learning the Art of Mooching

I confess. I am a bibliophile. I scourge book shops and thrift stores for books that I can afford. I hoard books even when I cannot read them all at once. I devour books and rarely update my shelf to chuck out books I have gone tired of reading or those that may have been better off to someone elses hands. There are all sorts of bibliophiles. Just are there are different types of readers and writers. I, for one, love the presence of books, and read them when I can. Once I open a book and go beyond 20 pages, I am hooked. Currently, I hold a rough estimate of 300 books. Since I do not catalogue them one by one, I have really no idea whether my collection is nearing 400 though it definitely feels like it. For years, I have rarely met anyone who religiously went to book sales and thrift shops in search for new titles or old treasures. What I thought wasnt possible, is possible. The gates have been opened and I am now initiated to the site www.shelfari.com and www.bookmooch.com It has only been days when I joined in these communities. Shelfari is your online bookshelf where you get to catalogue your books, create a wishlist, and of course, meet people with similar passion for books. Simply search the author or the title of the book you currently hold and you can click options such as Own, Read, Planning to Read, Wish, and Favorite to mark where you want these books to appear in your online book shelf. You can make multiple selections for each book and enter as much as you want. Now, I cant wait to get my itchy fingers to type on the keyboard to look for books and put them on my wishlist. I also want to catalogue my books and organize them on the excel file so I can finally keep track of them. Shelfari is the trophy case of bibliophiles. It is also the room where readers can gather and discuss a similar passion for stories. So while you can stack up your collection of books at Shelfari, you can acquire more books at Bookmooch from booklovers all over the world who arent afraid to share, exchange, and swap books. Through a network of people, you can tap into lists of books that they are willing to give away and have it mailed to you. However, you cant get something in return without giving. Bookmooch relies on a point-system basis where you can only start mooching for books once you have points. In order to garner points, you have to have a stack of book people would want to mooch from you. In this manner, there is a fair exchange going on and people can have exactly what they want. I am just giddy with excitement to start screening and organizing my bookshelf so I can start mooching already. Just imagine being able to get great books in return for the stuff you no longer want! These sites are just too good to be true that sometimes, blogs seem to be insufficient to spread the word around. Postcard printing mailings may just do the thing, but I have to figure out who would really want to belong in these communities. And whether you are a childrens books lover, an avid comic collector, or a classic fiction reader, you will surely belong to both of these sites without difficulty, as once again, they open themselves freely to all kinds of book lovers.