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I remember hearing a quote that went something like, “In 5 years you will be the same person you are today, except for the books you read and the people you meet.”
I have found there to be a lot of truth to that statement. Almost all of the significant improvements in my life came as a result of reading books. Looking back at the last 10 years of my life it is pretty clear that the greatest seasons of growth came during the seasons when I was reading a lot. And I have to admit, I have been out of the habit for the last couple years, but am working on getting back into it. Which is why my ears perked up when I heard about Bookswim.
Netflix for books
I recently found out about a book rental service (basically Netflix for books) called Bookswim that allows you to rent a batch of books via the postal service and return them when you are finished.
They offer a variety of packages depending on how much reading you and your family will do each month. The cheapest plan is about $14/month which offers one book rental per month.
They also offer packages of 3,5,7, & 11 books that they send out at the same time (books of your choosing) at $23.95, $29.95, $35.95, & $59.95/month respectively. And just like Netflix you get to ship your books back for free.
Is it worth it?
The question is, is it worth it? It is quite a bit more expensive than Netflix – probably because the average length of rental is a lot longer and the shipping costs are a lot higher, but it still definitely is a much better deal than buying all the books new.
Since most of the books I read are older classics, I can often purchase them used from Amazon for a couple bucks and I don’t quite know if a service like Bookswim would be the best thing for me. But for someone who regularly reads new releases and reads a lot it might just make a lot of sense financially.
Are you a reader? What do you think? Would it be worth it for you?
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I thought BookSwim was a great idea when I saw and thought I would share it with you to see what you think! It’s like NetFlix for all kinds of books, so as an example, you can read all the beauty and style books out there without spending so much money. I have gotten books from the library sometimes when I want to read a book that just came out, but my branch doesn’t have what I want most of them. If you are in college they even have text books available- that seems like a pretty smart way to have your books for class without buying one at the insane prices text books seem to be sold at. How can you beat having the books just show up in your mailbox? 
