www.bookswapper.de

Everyone who knows me knows I love to read.  I always have at least one book on the go at any given time, and I read quickly, so I go through books at quite a rate.

This wasn't really a problem in other countries where we've lived, because once I'd read a book I could give them away to friends, family and neighbours - but here in Germany there really isn't a demand for English books and I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with them.

There's a second-hand book store in Rado, and they're quite happy for me to donate them, but they won't swap them with me, or give me anything for them - and I think they're actually selling them online anyway, so I was getting precisely nothing out of the deal.

My friend Gina told me about www.bookswapper.de and it's fabulous!  It's a website for swapping English books in Germany.  It's dead easy and it's FREE.  You sign up, list the books you don't want anymore, and once you've sent off some of yours, you get a credit per swapped book.  Each credit lets you get a book from someone else.  It's fab and, did I mention, it's FREE.

Postage of books in Germany is ridiculously cheap.  Provided you leave the envelope accessible for inspection (close it with one of those split pins, not tape), you can send a book anywhere in Germany for €0.85.

There is a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section on their page that will help you get started.  Give it a go if you've got books you don't want anymore, and if you want to get your hands on some new books that you don't have to pay for.

And clever Gina told me to add their RSS feed to my Google Reader so I can see as soon as someone lists a new book for swapping - brilliant!  The popular books go quickly, as I discovered when I tried to get Jojo Moyes "Me Before You" pretty much as soon as it was listed on the weekend - it'd already gone.  But the good thing is that lots of the books get listed again for swapping once they've been read.

Oh, and if you'd rather buy your books brand spanking new, check out www.play.com and www.bookdepository.com.  Both have cheap new books and FREE delivery - yippee!