Books for Rent – Easy & Online

It was my birthday this week. Another year on this earth, and no one has set me on fire or stoned me to death yet. Just when I’m thinking that we’re politically going to hell in a handbasket, I have these thoughts, and feel comforted.

Three of my birthday presents had to do with books. Four, if you count the headphones that I’m going to use to block out sounds of Grand Theft Auto IV while I’m reading. (I had to stop playing GTA4 because I had a slight issue with separating the game from reality, as evidenced by my renewed desire to scrape my car along cars that are parked in ridiculous places.)

The first two were, big surprise, books.

The third was a membership to booksfree.com, which is a service for books that is like Netflix for movies, or Gamefly for video game rental.

You browse their selection or search for books you want to read, add them to your queue and they are mailed to you based on availability. Like Netflix, you can rate your books, and then it will make recommendations based on your preferences.

You receive & return books via USPS (postage prepaid) and for a monthly fee, you have them for as long as you want them. I am a ravenous reader, so I am on the 6 books-at-a-time plan. As a world dominator, you need to keep up on your reading, be it books, blogs or billboards.

So far, I’ve found their selection to be pretty good – this is not amazon.com, but in addition to the more popular authors, I was able to find some of my more esoteric books, like Allison Weir’s Innocent Traitor of Lady Jane Grey, who is interesting because she was crowned queen for just 9 days.

Look out, those of you planning to reinstate the monarchy. Your reign may be brief.

The point is, this is a great idea. I’m not sure how the service will be yet, but I’ve already received 3 email notifications that my books have shipped (It’s not SPAM, just 1 per book). The interface is pretty easy to use, especially if you are familiar with Netflix. I am eager to see how prompt their shipping is, and how quickly my returned books will be processed.

So far, my only complaint is that the recommendations repeat different versions of the same book (example, six Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabans), & seem to forget that you’ve already rated it, so you’ve probably read it. Possibly, this will be less of a problem once I’ve rated more books, and as their selection grows.

While this service doesn’t quite have me belting out Butterfly in the Sky Lavar Burton-style, it’s pretty neat, and deserves a second look.

Check it out, and let me know what you think.

More reasons to check out booksfree.com:

• Constant flow of the books you want.
• Convenience of having books mailed to you, and being able to return them in any mailbox slot.
• New suggested titles and authors.
• You don’t have to face the librarian that read you Winnie the Pooh when you take out Stephanie Meyer’s sexy “Twilight” (yes, it’s for teens, but it is still pretty hot) or my guilty pleasure books by Philippa Gregory (that minx).
• It’s like putting books on hold at the library, and having the librarian drive to your apartment and hand it to you.
• Going online to order a book you’re going to rent, rather than buy, is a cost-effective solution to one-time readers that may not want to purchase a book, or the cost-conscious, who may not want to spend $15 on a book they’re not sure they’ll like.

Image Credit: cake, books, booksfree logo, lady jane & harry potter.