Book reports optional
I grew up in a tiny house that was always packed with books, from coffee table tomes and pulpy potboilers to serious biographies and classic novels. In keeping with tradition, my own tiny apartment is now teeming with books. But the once-elegantly displayed art volumes are starting to teeter and my collection of college texts (that I will revisit one day!) weighs heavy on flimsy shelves. So when a press release for an outfit called Paperback Swap arrived on my desk, I actually took notice. Started in 2004 as an online community for readers looking to exchange interesting paperbacks, the “book-sharing network” now includes 1.5 million used reads. How it works: You join (for free), list books you have and want to swap, and search for books you want to read. When someone clicks on your book, you mail it to him or her. And when you click on someone else’s book, he or she mails it to you. It’s open-source reading I think LeVar Burton would approve of.
