
President and Founder of PaperBackSwap

PaperBackSwap Member

Dear Members,
Books for Schools 2016 is nearly complete! As of right now, the last 2 schools are up collecting donations. That will make the total donation this year 11,750 books for 8 deserving elementary schools.
Some of these children have never had a book to call their own. Through our generous members, the Books for Schools donation program changes that!
We thank you for helping to put hands in the books of these students and for sharing the joy of reading.
We thought you may want to see why we LOVE this program. These are just some of the photos we have received from our recipient schools over the years. Seeing the joy on the children’s faces makes us smile.
In Gratitude,
Richard and The PaperBackSwap Team
How long have you been a PBS member?
Since 6/26/06
How did you find PBS?
I honestly don’t remember. I think I had a friend on a message board tell me about it.
I know it was before the big boom in m/m themed publishing, because I started the first game featuring unconventional couples. At that time, finding books with a homoerotic plot was difficult.
I still have some of the books that I gained through those games, and fondly remember the members who played with me.
How has PBS impacted your life? What does PBS mean to you?
PBS has helped me share the books I love, and introduce others to them. I love knowing that a review I’ve written, or a suggestion I’ve made has helped a member discover a new author or genre.
PBS is always surprising me with just what I can get on my Wish List! I’ve gotten two embalming textbooks so far. It just goes to show that PBS has something for everyone. Even people like me!
What book impacted you most as a child or young adult?
There were many books that shaped my childhood.
I was a very strange child. I could read at 16 months (which kinda freaked my parents out), and this lead me to tackling books that may have been a bit too old for me.
I’ve written a blog post here on PBS, devoted to my love of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, but there was also A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, as well as all the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
When I was in Jr. High, my favorite books were the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. I was also devouring Steven King, my favorite book by him being The Eyes of the Dragon.
When I was 15 a friend at summer camp introduced me to Mercedes Lackey, and that has become a love that has stretched into adulthood.
What is your favorite or most meaningful book read as an adult?
The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford was a book that truly opened my eyes to the world of death culture, something that has been the obsession of my life – Death Culture, cemetery history, and the history of mourning. (Hence me getting excited about my embalming books!)
When I’m not reading books on history (my husband and I are reenactors, so we read a LOT of history books), my favorite authors to curl up with are Mercedes Lackey, J.R. Ward, and Lisa Kleypas.
What are you reading now?
Smut! While switching between Clarissa Dickson Wright’s History of English Food, and How to be a Tudor by Ruth Goodman, I’m happily reading some wonderfully trashy ebooks like Heart of the Hunter by Chance Carter.
If someone handed you a $5 bill, would you put it in a pocket and never spend it? We hope not! Yet, some of you are doing the equivalent of that right now, and you may not even know it.
Our Invite Friends program allows you to earn actual cash money for referrals. No joke! Moolah. Green. Bank. Dough. Cabbage. Bread. (OK, now we’re getting hungry.)
Some members who have referred friends after the start of the program in November 2015 have become eligible to claim a cash reward, but haven’t done that yet! Are you one of those members?
You can check by going to the Invite Friends page, linked from the bottom of any page on the site, or click here: Check my Referrals
Scroll down on that page to see your list of referred accounts and if there is a Claim Your Reward button there, click it! Then choose a check mailed to your home, or PBS Money. That’s all you have to do. Could NOT be easier.
And if you don’t yet have cash to claim, it’s easy to get that started. You can Learn More About Inviting Friends in the Help Center. For you, it means a Cha-Ching! of always-welcome cash. For your referred friend, it means a discount on Annual Membership and entry into a world of online bookswapping. For the club, it means more members and more books to be shared with all of us. It’s win-win-win!
“Why do I love “Real Books”? Ask my overflowing bookshelves where I somehow always find room to add a new friend.” ~ Cynthia H.
“I love the page by page turning” ~ Dawn R. (dawnr56)
“They’re like trophies to me. And book cases are my trophy cases where I present my prizes!” ~ Summer D.
“Holding a book in my hand just feels right.” ~ Debbie D.
“The main reason for me is the swapping.” ~ Denise B. (dkb1269)
“I love printed books because it is one of the very few things that is socially acceptable to hoard. And I do… by the thousand.” ~ Roxy W. (ravyn)
“There is nothing like that feeling I get after I’ve read the last sentence of a book and clasp that book shut.” ~ Sharon V. (shawie)
“There’s nothing better than a shelf full of good books that friends can borrow from.” ~ Emily W.
“Books just make me happy!” ~ Cindy M.
The Northeast Kansas Local Chapter of PaperBackSwap (which meets in Topeka, KS) is small but active. We meet twice a month and do not have any set agenda, but mostly get together to talk about books, PBS, exchange books, and anything else that ‘trips our trigger’. We meet one Sunday afternoon a month at a local donut shop and one Monday a month for lunch.
At our October luncheon one of the members, Evelyn F (bluemoon2421) mentioned that she had taken some books for mailing to one of our Post Office branches, and mentioned that she really liked PBS because she still likes the “feel” of holding a book in her hands to read. She also told them that she has a friend who is blind and who reads lots of books on tape but her preferred method of reading is still holding a Braille book in her hands to read.
Then the clerk piped up and said “You can read Braille? We need help.” Evelyn said that she did not read Braille but had someone in the car who could. They asked her to please bring her in. They needed help! They had several trays of talking books that belonged to the State Talking Books Library, with the labels written only in Braille that someone had dropped in the mailbox. Evelyn’s friend, Nancy immediately knew what to do. She called the Post Office on the following Monday with the address of the State Talking Books Library in Emporia and the books were dispatched. They were very grateful.
Pictured below are some of the PBS members of the Topeka Chapter at their November luncheon. We always welcome anyone who would like to join us. Pictured are DeAnnette H. (deanie) (sitting);back row to her right is Linda B., standing in the middle back is Pat O. (PatinKS) and to her left is Evelyn F. (bluemoon2421).
The Northeast Kansas PBS Chapter meets twice a month. We meet on the first Sunday of each month at the Baker’s Dozen on SW 21st Street in Topeka, at 2pm – we call it Donut Sunday.
We meet on the third Monday of each month at Perkins Restaurant on Wanamaker at 11:30am for lunch.
We are always looking for new members so if you enjoy reading come join us for both meetings, if possible, and if not come when you can.
PaperBackSwap lost a long-time and very special member. Most of us who participated in the Discussion Forums on the site called her friend. Matter of fact, Carol has over 250 other members on her Friends List. And many of us have a soft spot in our hearts for her.
Carol joined PaperBackSwap in 2006 and in that time swapped thousands of books and sent out many more to her friends and acquaintances on the site. She loved books! She loved to read books and to share books with other book lovers.
She also loved to share her kindness and encouraging words with her friends here. It was a rare instance when Carol didn’t respond with kind words and caring when someone posted a joy or trouble in Club Member Thoughts. It was no surprise when she was named Member of the Month in February of 2008.
Sampson
Carol had her share of difficulties in her life, but went on with it, with courage and determination. She was an example to us all of us when life slings hardships our way. She got up day after day, making the best of it. She knew what was important. The love of Family and Friends and her sweet companion, Sampson. Sampson was also kind of our dog, since we had the joy in helping to name him. We read her stories of his puppy-hood with laughter and love. We celebrated his achievements and antics with her. We love, through our love of Carol, her love for him.
Carol, we will miss your presence in the forums, in the swaps, in our lives. And we are better people for knowing and loving you. Thank you for your example of quiet valor, your quirky sense of humor and for sharing the last 10 years of your life with us.