I have a new obsession. Forget Amazon, now I get my online shopping fix from these swap websites. So many of us have piles of old books lying around the house that we’re probably never going to read again, just collecting dust and taking up valuable space.

This is why clubs like the marvelous Paperback Swap (www.paperbackswap.com) were created. Join gratis, list all the books you’re willing to trade and start swapping! How does it work, you ask? Simple, it works on a credit system. You earn two credits for the first ten books you list, then when someone requests one of your books and you mail it to them, that earns you another credit. You can also buy credits. Each credit entitles you to request one book from another member. You can choose from nearly 4 million titles and all it costs is the price of actual shipping (which is always at the sender’s expense, so you don’t pay for the books you receive; only the ones you send out). Sure beats paying $8.99 plus tax down at Barnes and Noble. Paper Back Swap also has sister sites where you can swap CDs (www.swapacd.com) and DVDs (www.swapadvd.com), plus there is also Title Trader (http://titletrader.com) which works much the same way but is available worldwide, as opposed to just the US, for all you international chicas.