I usually give my finished-with/unwanted books to the local second hand bookstore where I get trade credit and I am friends with the book shop owner. Any rejects from there get taken to the FoL book sale donation box.

I don't belong to any other on-line book clubs apart from RP - not enough time, I'm afraid. And yes, I buy books from amazon, but only very cheap second-hand ones. I can usually get them for around five or six dollars including shipping. (As you can probably surmise, I am not buying recent bestsellers.)

I just read about a site in a womens mag( one of those at the grocery checkout-First or Womens World)called cash4books.net. I just looked at it & they even pay the shipping! I have not tried this yet but it sounds great. You can either be paid by check or Paypal & they have a list to look at to give you an idea what they pay. Has anyone used this? It sounds almost too good to be true but I hope it's not. I'm going to look at home & see if I don't have some good condition books I would like to get rid of. Well intentioned non-readers sometimes give me books I wouldn't read once much less want to keep!
Susan

I have had very few books that I wanted to get rid of--they are all like my children--but when I do, I take them to a used-book store run by an acquaintance. She will buy them at a low price or allow credit if I buy something at her shop. That is where I stock up on paperbacks before going on a trip. (Ask me about leaving a library book on a plane in Athens once. It cost me a bundle to replace it, and it was PB.)

I do buy from Amazon sometimes and also order from the Mystery Guild and Literary Guild book clubs. I collect some authors but do most of my reading from the public library. I love that I can now request titles on line, but I also enjoy going downtown to the main branch and browsing in the stacks.

I find it almost impossible to part with books but when I do, they go to the Friends of the Library for their sale. I use the library so much that that's the best place for them.

I use two trading sites for paperbacks:
paperbackswap.com and bookmooch.com
the post office is thrilled to see me coming in-media mail rate or not.

hardbacks I don't want (and they are rare...I almost never buy a book new that I have not all ready read and loved) go to the library booksale. I also will return for resale any book I buy there and don't want to keep.

I give some to my niece, some to the library to either add to the collection or be sold at their on-going book sale, or put them on Paperbackswap.com. PBSwap also takes hardbacks, CDs and other stuff. It's fun.

What is the name of the site where you register a book then leave it on a bench or someplace for others to find? If you find one (it has a sticker in it) you go back to the site to say you found it. When you're done, you set it free again.

I also have a pretty big pile of books I won't part with and my TBR pile.

I don't part with many books, but those that do leave the house are either passed along to one of my sisters or wind up going to the Friends of the Library book sale.

I usually buy on Amazon, and try to buy used. If I'm looking for something obscure or OOP, I use Alibris. For the past couple years I've been getting almost all my new fiction from the library and they've been very good about fulfilling my "Request To Buy" emails.

RP is the only book group I belong to. Somehow, having to read a particular book by a particular date for a RL book group just holds very little appeal for me.

Lol, but I think its funny that many of you "just hate to part" with most ever book. You must be lucky in reading only good books ;-). There are several ive read that have been so ghastly that I was overjoyed when I got rid of them. I only keep a book if I really like it or will likely read it again.
Im going to start buying books at Amazon now too. I saw the same B&N classic (originally $7.95 at their store) at Amazon gently used for only $.97
So, on trading your books online, do you find them to give you a fair deal? Whats the going rate?
Thats very interesting about the Library sales. I remember going to one a VERY long time ago when I was young, but I wasn't as voracious a reader then as I am now. Hummmm, i'll certainly have to go and find out when ours is held.
-sheriz6, im with you on the book club thing. I wouldn't like having others pick out what books I had to read.
CMK

I pass books to my daughter, not really unwanted but I have little room to store them. We have a library in my retirement village which is a repository for books that are unwanted or have been read. Unfortunately no one seems to have my taste for light mysteries and humorous novels so I rarely find anything I want there.
I only go to the RP forum and buy a few books from the second hand shops and library sales. My new book buying is only for the Grafton and Evanovich series which have such a long waiting list at the library! I get them from K-Mart.

I offer them up on BookMooch and use my mooching points to get more books. Since all of my books go abroad, I can mooch 3 books for every 2 I send out.

If they are big and heavy and too costly to mail, I either give them to the neighborhood charity shop or the library.

I am gradually trying to weed out my older books. Those that I think might have value I will try to contact used bookstores locally about. I never throw away a book, or at least seldom! Some I will give to friends, and those of little value will go to one of our many local annual library book sales. I made a New Year's Resolution to stop buying books and use our libraries more often. I have enough book filled shelves in my home to open my own library.

cristin-the trading sites that Netla, dedtired and I referred to are just that-you trade books with other people. Basically, you list any books you are willing to give away. You receive points by first listing a certain number of books, and then by giving away books. Other members of the site browse your "bookshelf" or search for a certain title, and if you have a copy that they want, they request it, or, on bookmooch, you "mooch" it.
If you are sending the book, you pay postage but you get point credits.
If you are requesting the book, you pay nothing except points from your account.
I have had great luck with both. I reuse packaging whenever possible, print out my own shipping labels through the USPS website (you get a tiny discount) to save running to the post office, and have found some books I could not find anywhere else.

paperbackswap is just in the USA, bookmooch is international if you wish-you can choose your own country only. Netla lives in Iceland, so almost every book she sends out is considered an international mooch, so she earns 3 points for those. If she mooches a book, though, it only costs her 2 points. If you mooch within your own country, it is only 1 point. I have sent and received books from all over the world.

I belong to bookcrossing.com. I leave my finished books at different places to give them new life. People find them and some report back. It is really cool and some of my books have done some traveling. Check it out if you have the time.

Before I joined bookcrossing, I would go to hospitals or nursing homes. They always wanted them.

I love my bookclub BECAUSE they sometimes pick books I would not choose for myself. Yes, there have been bombs, but I have also read gems that I never would have found-and that I wanted desperately to discuss when I had finished reading. We enjoy meeting with "likeminded" women and we get to eat! We laugh alot, cried together when one member lost her mother and another lost her home to fire...and they celebrated with me when my daughter became engaged. We have become such a support group for each other that it now goes beyond the book...but we do still read and discuss!

Cece, just to clarify my thoughts on a RL book group, it's not the choice of book that puts me off, it's the deadlines. For some reason, once I have the pressure of a time constraint (other than library books, I can renew those) I suddenly have no desire to read that particular book and then I feel guilty for not reading it and it becomes a horrible chore rather than a chance to read something wonderful. Perverse and mulish, I know! Maybe it reminds me too much of my school years, I don't know, I've just always been like that.

I have several friends who participate in RL book groups and they feel the same way you do about them. They also pass along their book selections and I've read some wonderful stuff because of it. RP just suits me better.

every so often I get that "I don't WANT to read that NOW" feeling too...it's the group that pushes me past it!

Now, back to the thread, since I sort of hijacked it...

My bookgroup has donated multiple copies of some of the books to women's shelters.

I tend to keep my books and make space for them, the only ones I give away are ones that I want to share. Then I'm happy to give them to a new home.

I pared down my book collection years ago, and the remaining books are ones I wouldn't part with. Nobody would want them anyway, since they're usually falling apart and have marginal notes written in them.

The very rare book that I want to get rid of is given away or possibly sold to a used book store nearby.

It's either recyle some of my favorite books or move to a larger house!

Since I volunteer at the FOL I have a chance to spend time regularly looking for interesting books - easy enough to return them to the shop the next time I'm there, plus I know that the small price I may have paid for something that I didn't enjoy will go to a good cause. I like to read reviews on Amazon.com and may order books because of that, either new or used. However if I'm faced by a quiet weekend and nothing in my TBR pile turns me on at the moment, I have been known to run to Barnes and Noble to find something from the list I have made from reading reviews. I need that security of knowing I have a good book at the ready. I equal the feeling to that of the panic a mother must feel when cupboard is bare and her kid's hungry.

If I read a book that I know a friend will enjoy, I will offer it as a loan. My feeling is that I want to share the joy that book has brought me. However, some friends don't realize that the book is important to me and I do intend that it be returned within a reasonable length of time and certainly not that they keep it. I know, I know, I should write my name in it (never, never, never - I consider that defacing it.) I have resisted making a list of who has my books, but it must come to that, I guess.

Good questions here. First, I take my unwanted books to our local used store for trade. They are picky, but they seem to like the books I bring in and have been able to get some good hard backs for half cost. Books not taken go to my local Friends of the Library, or to Goodwill, depending on how far I want to drive at the time. Childrens books always go to my nieces

Btw does anyone think about what will happen to their collection when they are gone? I have. I wrote a list of some books and who I want them given to. But I am not entirely sure about the rest of them; I want them to go someplace where they will actually be read. Any thoughts?

Second question: I am on 2 other forums regularly: Readerville (which by the way is newly refurbished and I think for the better), and HistoricFictiononline.com. I also glance through a few others to check specific book discussions. I do think the discussions online beat anything I have had in real life, (tho I am also in two RL forums. No, I do not have a life :)

I buy my books used when I can, either at our local store or via bookfinders.com (umbrella book search taht convers ABE, Albiris, and all the others). But the times that I just have to get that book (usually a recent release by a favorite author), I'll wait for a Borders Rewards coupon and order it there (often I get 25-30% off, plus reward bonus points. And it doesn't cost anything to join, like B/N) Otherwise I go through Amazon.

Here is a link that might be useful: Historical Fiction Book Forum

Thanks for posting Cindy.
Ive actually wondered what will hapen to my books when im gone too. My family etc. arnt much on reading, but they would naturally get first pick if they were interested. But I think I would donate the bulk of my growing collection of books to the library. I like the idea of that because so many people would be able to read my books, not just one person I gave it to. It might be a nice idea to donate childrens books to a charity or something, like St. Jude's or maybe some hospital library.
Thanks for the link. I browesd the site but Im afraid it didnt appeal to me as much because their Classics section was nearly void of postings. I seem to read a lot more Classics than I do anything else!
CMK

Um, I should mention - the group had a much much larger board just a few weeks ago, when the owner shut it down because he wanted to make a generic book forum. So this one was built from scratch by the moderators, and everyone is trying to re post reviews and discussions that they happen to have. Give it time :)

I sometimes register them at Bookcrossing.com, but most often, if I don't think I'll read them again or use them in teaching, I post them at Paperbackswap.com. That is my favorite place. Anything that wouldn't be acceptable there I donated to the local library's book shop or "released" as a Bookcrossing book.

There is some discussion of books at Paperbackswap, but I have not been looking at it regularly.

PBS very recently instituted a feature I like a lot: As a heading to your "Bookshelf" where you post books for others to order, you can list books that would not normally be acceptable there (water damage, staining, underlining, etc.) and offer to send one of these "free" books to people who order a book from you for which they will pay you a credit. I prefer this to taking books to the library because this way I know someone who wants the book will be getting it.

Chiming in to say that I would be careful about giving cherished books to a public library. Having worked in various libraries, I know how prone certain older works are to be weeded by eager librarians who need the shelf space. I would check out University libraries in your area and find out if they collect out of print books and have enough space. Just my 2 cents worth.

It is in my will, actually. DD and DS get to take any they want, and the rest go to the FOL for their book sale. My books are not library bindings, so would not be appropriate for shelving anyway-but they may as well raise some money for a place that has meant hours of pleasure for me throughout my life. The FOL does very careful sorting all year long, and sells any collectibles online, so I know I would be doing some good.

I have told my bunch I don't care what they do after I'm gone but to please have my things valued before they put them in a yard sale. Some of the books may be worth something, as well as some of the dishes I started housekeeping with, some I've collected, and a few from my mother and grandmothers, the quilts my mother made, and her old trunk. Actually, I find it interesting that the things I treasure probably won't mean much to anyone else. Boxes of travel souvenirs, anyone?

While occasionally I have given an unwanted book to a friend, most of the time I give such books to various Friends of the Library organizations for their used book sales. There is no way I could possibly buy all the books I want to read, though I do buy quite a few. This is my way of giving back to an institution that has benefitted me all my life long.

Our local Humane Shelter has a Thift Shop. It has a great collection of paperbacks and best-seller hard backs. I usually end up buying more than I donate.

I feel that since I don't donate as much money as I should to this organization, the books help them take care of our furry friends.

Another group that I sometimes donate to is a church sponsored Thrift Shop.

Both groups seem to like the same kind of books that I do. A best-seller for about one dollar is a good deal for me.

Getting rid of books, ANY books, is difficult for me. I have been noticing that I am interviewing friends before I give them a book. It happened just yesterday... I said, "Do you read such-and-such author?" She said, "Yes, but I tend to take that author to the beach and the books get filled with sand and I just leave them at the vacation house for the next family." And I said, "Wow. Isn't the weather lovely today?" I kept the book. In my brain, I know that books are meant to be shared and discussed. In my heart, they ALL belong to ME.
But when I do get a few that are ready to be out on their own in the world, the library sale gets them, family and friends get them. Somehow, I feel much better giving them away if I know they are going to a good home. Weird, and strange to attach such emotion to inanimate objects. But what can I say? It's the truth, I do it.
PAM

You made me smile, PAM! I can identify : )

Ditto, for me, PAM.

Any book I don't want to keep goes to Goodwill. That way I know the sale of the book will go to a good purpose.

My friend and just talked about this and we frequently just give our books to people we think will enjoy them, kind of like a gift from our heart.