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I've been on a bit of a cleaning spree as of late.  Maybe it's the weather.  Maybe it's spring break.  Maybe it's the fact that I'm worried that some of my neighbor's kids could be trapped under the enormous amounts of dust and dog hair which have been gathering in my house all winter.

At any rate, it's time for a change.

So, I've been trying to organize my house into some semblance of order.  Piles of laundry have been washed and put away.  Tables have been polished.  Floors have been Swiffered.  And slowly, the piles of clothes are parting so that I can make out that, yes, these used to be rooms with a purpose.  It's only a matter of time before I can reclaim my house (insert maniacal laughter here).

One of the most difficult parts of organizing the house is throwing things away.  I've mentioned before that I do not come from a wealthy family.  I really do appreciate the value of a dollar.  And so, it's difficult for me to just pitch perfectly good items into the trash.  The downside of not doing it is that piles of stuff tend to accumulate all over the house.  You know what I'm talking about... those piles that you walk by and glare at occasionally.  You tend to hope that one day, you'll walk by and they will have mysteriously disappeared.

Tops in those piles?  My husband's old tee shirts (I joke that only he and the ASTA folks know that "Travel Improves the Quality of Life", a slogan from a tee shirt that was so old, it was transparent) and books. 

I love books.  I would buy a new one every day if I could.  And I hate to throw them away.

Most thrift stores and charity shops will accept used hardback books as donations.  This is great!  I get rid of my books, they get reused by someone who will, I hope, appreciate them, and I get a tax deduction for the fair market value of the books.  What could be better?

But what about those poor paperback books?  Nobody wants them, it seems.  Nobody... until now.  I recently joined paperbackswap.com, which works exactly like it sounds.  You sign up (for free!) and list your paperback books in good condition on the web site.  Other folks see them, want them, get them for free.  You pay the postage to ship (the web site estimates $1.59 per book).  The payoff?  When you see a book on the site that you want, you use your credits (which you earn by listing your books) to get those - for free.  How cool is that?

I signed up this week.  I have nine books ready to be shipped out to new homes and three books coming my way in return.  I am psyched.  Check it out!