Read the full article at ZDnet.com

“…….Worried about being more responsible about paper usage? Well, if you’re a voracious reader like me who isn’t around during library hours, you might want to look at the BookSwim web site. The easiest way to describe BookSwim is as an online rental service that is to books what Netflix is to movies. Pricing starts at about $20 per month for a casual reader (someone who can handle up to three books at a time) and goes up to about $32 for a family with nine books at a time…….”

Ryan is accustomed to loss. Her father passed away five years ago, she doesn’t relate to her best friends anymore, and she is a Cubs fan. The anniversary of her father’s death happens to land on opening day, so Ryan skips school to go to the game. This is where she meets Nick. Another Cubs fan and also a new kid from her school. Thus, starting their friendship.

Nick’s friendship and the Cubs good fortune transform Ryan into the person she was before she let herself be dulled with grief. Nick reluctantly tells Ryan why his family really moved to Chicago. Ultimately, through facing Nick’s illness, Ryan realizes what her father had tried to teach her about life and baseball. It’s now about winning or losing, but having the courage to continue to the play the game no matter what is thrown at you.

I don’t know why I didn’t read this book sooner! If I had realized how much I was going to like it I would have. I of course was initially drawn to the book because of the Cubs, but what really drew me in was the story itself. Smith is an extraordinary writer and I expect great things from her in the future. Her writing is simple yet powerful. This book is beautifully written, the language is so genuine you can’t help but be held captive to it. I found myself admiring Ryan’s character and empathizing with her throughout the entire story. I loved the history about the Chicago Cubs, although I knew most of it. Other readers might find that part tiresome or boring, but I really think that is adds to the story as a whole. I highly recommend The Comeback Season, it is a heartwarming story that will not be soon forgotten.

Add The Comeback Seaon to your rental pool!

If you took seven years to compose a 614-page opus about the Vietnam War, it would probably be incredibly grating to read reviews employing the word quagmire. All apologies to Denis Johnson, then, because after reading his novel, Tree of Smoke, that’s the first word that comes to my mind.
To be clear, Smoke is impressive, a layered, rich, sweaty accomplishment of massive proportions, a novel whose first three pages are nothing short of perfect. But Johnson is a meticulous writer, and if anything, the next 611 pages suffer from an overabundance of care. Smoke isn’t just set in the tropics, it exudes them — Saigon, yes, but also Manila, Honolulu, and Damulog, their unfamiliar smells and persistent moisture clinging to the story like a fog. And even as I was marveling at Johnson’s narrative gifts, I was staggering under the heft of his ambition. Two decades of story lines tangle into a web of epic relationships, until I no longer bothered to flip back four chapters to remember how one character knew another —I just assumed a part of my brain had retained the information, and pressed on.
On the most basic level, this is the story of Skip Sands, a CIA officer straight out of Graham Greene’s arsenal — a fact that has not escaped Skip’s attention. He’s nominally in the employ of his uncle, Francis Xavier Sands, a.k.a. the colonel, a whiskey-swilling survivor focused only on turning the theater of war to his advantage. Countless characters swirl around the colonel: doomed GIs, loyal locals, assassins, and double agents, each carrying his or her own lovingly painted agenda, most of who fall by the wayside eventually. There are fewer pages of jagged action than there are of philosophy, though the Tet Offensive is recounted with particular vigor. Sands gets a small, tragic love story, which would have been novel enough for Greene. And there’s an obvious point at which the book should end but does not, instead slogging deeper into the jungle (literally) for another 10 years and hundred pages, on a desperate march toward an unclear conclusion.
It’s easy to lose interest in Smoke at this point, but that’s okay; Johnson’s point has largely been made anyway. Not surprisingly, it’s the same moral offered by everyone from Coppola to Creedence — i.e., war is bad, and Vietnam in particular really sucked. Tree of Smoke is a mammoth portrait of humanity in conflict, less about the message than the journey, which leads inextricably to one of the few uniquely American truths: People seem to get stuck in Vietnam. Only Johnson’s extraordinary literary gifts permit the tentative recommendation to join him there. “B”

Rent “Tree of Smoke” at BookSwim

http://www.bookswim.com/book/Tree_of_Smoke_A_Novel-119189227442949.html

David Sedaris’ latest book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, is a must read. For those unfamiliar with Sedaris’ previous work, the author specializes in hilarious stories of his family and anecdotes about every day life. Each story brings with it a familiarity; these characters are just like the characters you know in your own life. Well, maybe not JUST like them, but Sedaris brings out the humanity in each of the people he writes about so that you can love them or spite them right along with him.

His most recent novel includes anecdotes about a crotchety neighbor, vacationers in France and Sedaris’ own battle with quitting smoking. These stories are told with such brilliant wit that there is no way to stop reading. I’d go into more detail, but I’d hate to ruin a punchline by trying to prove myself right.

I started this book waiting in an airport for our plane to begin boarding. My husband, listening to his iPod, repeatedly admonished me for laughing so hard I was shaking his seat. I’m sure others around me may have wondered what was wrong with me, but I didn’t care. The joy of this book is entering a world where you don’t care what others think, you just get to sit back and observe the idioscynchracies of life.

- Kristin
Diverxtrme

Rent When You Are Engulfed in Flames on Bookswim

View the full article at SheKnows.com

“…..BookSwim is the nation’s first and only hardcover/ paperback book rental club — similar to a “netflix for books”. They mail books “netflix-style” with no due dates, no late fees, and unlimited rentals per month. And they have tons to choose from! All of the latest titles abound, crossing genres - and it’s super easy to use to catch up on your (missed) reading. The more you read, the more value you get!

BookSwim (and Alytude!) wish to help you recapture your reading passion as well, and three readers will each win a 2-month BookSwim (unlimited!) membership. To have your chance to win, please leave me a comment with the most meaningful book you’ve ever read - and three things you’ve learned this week in my blog. (You know why….) Deadline is July 15. Good luck!”

View full article at MSN Finance (Canada)

……Books. While the DVD rental market is well-established, book rentals aren’t - at least not yet. Sure, you can borrow a book from your nearest library, but newer titles tend to be limited and items typically need to be returned in a couple of weeks.

With Bookswim (www.bookswim.com) though, you join a club and order books online from a selection of over 200,000. Your selections are delivered to your door and you simply return them when read and get new ones in return.

Unlike the public library, there’s no late fee if you don’t finish the book within three or four weeks. You can keep them until you’re done, and then send them back. Bookswim takes care of shipping costs and include a pre-paid return bag with every shipment.

Of course, you have to pay a monthly fee to join. The cheapest plan lets you read up to two books at a time for $15 per month. If you’ve got more readers in your family, the 11 books at a time plan might prove to be the better deal - at $36 per month……..

Read full article at BuzzSugar.com

Summer is a great time for picking up those books you can never seem to get to during the rest of the year. I know many of you are working your way through your reading lists, and this month, I’m giving away something that I hope will make your Summer reading experience even more delightful.

Every week this month, I’m giving away a $150 credit toward a membership at BookSwim, which is a Netflix-type service for books. You can use the credit any way you want: Get five books at a time for six months, two books at a time for almost a year, whatever combination you prefer! You can read more about how the service works over here.

All you have to do to enter is log in to your TeamSugar account and take this quiz about recent bestsellers. It doesn’t matter how you score — just by taking the quiz, you’re entered! You must take the quiz before 5 p.m. PDT on Sunday, July 13. If you don’t win, don’t worry — I’ll post a new quiz each Monday till the end of July. If you don’t have a TeamSugar account, what are you waiting for? Go here to sign up. For the official rules, click here — and good luck!

ABERDEEN - Even the intense heat that plagued the East Coast last week couldn’t keep readers from their beloved books.

The extreme heat that caused many schools in the area to close early also prematurely closed the main offices at BookSwim.com, based on Church Street in Aberdeen, after the heat melted a plastic bookshelf at the 5,500- square-foot warehouse.

The bookshelf toppled onto one directly next to it, creating a domino effect, spilling thousands of books onto the warehouse floor.

“No one was injured, but they had to spend most of [Wednesday] and [Thursday] righting the shelves and re-shelving the books,” said Tom Cosentino, who handles public relations for the book rental company. “They were still able to fill orders, though, which is pretty productive.”

BookSwim.com is a book-based version of the popular movie rental company Netflix, Cosentino said.

Read Article at Bayshore Independent

“It is a book rental company. Customers pay a monthly subscription fee and get the books on their wish list shipped out to them,” Cosentino explained. “The customer then returns the books when they are finished and they get their next month’s supply of books.”

According to Cosentino, customers can receive up to 11 books a month.

“It is great for people who don’t have the space for all of their own books, or for people who don’t want to buy all those pricey bestsellers,” Cosentino said. “The company services the whole country.”

Cosentino said that BookSwim.com was founded by two local businessmen and has blossomed so much that a library in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, has started using the site.

Boy, do I have great news for you!

The Warehouse:
You may recall our warehouse mishap last week. With additional help from friends, family members and former interns, not only did we get everything cleaned up by Friday, but we even got ALL of last week’s packages checked in and new ones sent out! We would have e-mailed you Friday, but passing out from exhaustion seemed more appealing at that particular moment.

Yes, as we strolled into work this morning, it was business as usual with everything back on track. We were very fortunate that only a few dozen out of the 50,000 toppled books were damaged. We had their funeral over the weekend. BookSwim co-founder, George Burke, gave a beautiful eulogy.

We would like to take a moment to sincerely thank you not just for your patience, but also for your many letters of emotional support and encouragement as we dealt with this worst-case-scenario.

It’s often said that the Chinese word for “crisis” also means “opportunity”, and we have utilized this opportunity to develop more efficient ways for just about every step of fulfillment - from check in, to shelving, to packaging - which means better service for you. We’ve also taken necessary steps to ensure that this never happens again. Yes, BookSwim is actually emerging from all of this as a better service.

The Website:
In other news (as in, things we wanted to let you know last week, but got a little sidetracked), BookSwim.com has some improved features! Most noticeably, you can now log in from the main page. The coolest improvement, however, can be found in the “My Account” section:

In the “Books” column, to your left, you’ll see something new that says, “Return or Keep my Books”. It replaces the erstwhile “Books in Possession” page. There, you can see every title you currently have at home and easily decide whether you’d like to return a book or purchase it at the discounted BookSwim price. It still does pretty much the same thing, but now it’s clearer, easier to use and looks super-snazzy.

“But BookSwim Team, why should I use this feature?” you may be asking. Because knowing which books you’re sending back to us allows us to assemble your next package in advance, getting you the books you want faster!

Many of you around the country are doing two things right now: Getting ready for Father’s Day this weekend and sweating yourselves silly in the heatwave. Well, here at BookSwim, we’re no different.

There’s good news and bad news (bad news should always come first):

The Bad News:
The heat has raught havoc in our warehouse. Shelves have suffered from triple-digit temperatures causing a fissure in one near the end of our exceptionally long row. Imagine dominoes. Tens of thousands of books are strewn and piled on the floor.

Let’s talk about how this affects you: It may take us up to four days to reassemble our warehouse. Until that time, we will not be able to check in returned packages or send new ones.

We have every employee focused solely on this task, from fulfillment staff, to programmers, all the way up to executives. BookSwim is dedicated to quickly resolving this in such a manner that it never happens again.

The Good News:
We will be up and running, and even caught up, by Father’s Day. As a token of our appreciation for your patience through this - our darkest hour - we would like to extend a special Father’s Day gift to all of you:

From now through June 15th, all giftcards, $30 and up, purchased with the promo code FATHERSDAY1 will be discounted by $5. And if your dad is a really big reader, any giftcard $100 or more is $15 off with that code.

Things you can do with BookSwim in the meantime:
1. Read your books
2. Receive books that have already been sent
3. Send books back (we’ll check them in as soon as we can)
4. Browse books on BookSwim.com
5. Add books to your Pool
6. Love us for the tenacious scamps that we are.

Thank you again, sincerely, for all of your patience,
The BookSwim Team

P.S. We’ll be sure to send out another e-mail letting you know when full operation has been restored.