BookMooch and Book Trades

I was beginning to be a little disillusioned with BookMooch.
-- it's perfectly legitimate for members to refuse to send abroad, and a lot of the books I was looking for were available to moochers within USA but not to me
-- my points for giving books away were mounting up very quickly, even with a Starter Donation to a friend
-- I had to cancel several requests because the person who had the book was inactive or unreachable.

And then, in a burst of illumination, I found a way to get what I wanted.

Some members are desperate (sic) for points.

I have lots of points.

So I thinned down my wishlist to the really hard-to-find stuff, and then posted a message saying I'd donate 10 extra points for any edition of any book on my wishlist.

24 hours later, 9 of the books have been ticked off: people are buying them with Real Money on used-book sites and having them sent to me. And I've had emails about another three.

And, in my head, the money I'm spending on packing and posting books does not count as Frivolous Book-Accident Outlay. (Even though, realistically, it is.)

I love it when a plan comes together!

Short Stories Online, Day 36

'The Cat That Walked By Himself', by Rudyard Kipling

A cheery and familiar tale today, as:
- ladymoonray confirms that when she guessed Spiky Things as this week's theme, she meant neither hedgehogs nor punk hairstyles, but spiky feline things.
- my best-beloved spiky feline thing was ever so well-behaved on his trip to the vet. (And his 'heart murmur's cleared up, which is a relief.)
- it's a nice sunny afternoon and I am working from home. How many PDFs can I review before they all blur into one?