BooksFree.com ?

[Baker]

Apparently there is a book renting company that works in a similar way as Netflix.

It sounds like you pay $9.99 a month or more to "rent" books and they ship them and you return them. I don't know any of the other details.

I might try this out because I'm usually not interested enough in a book to spend $30 on one and public libraries are inconvenient and generally suck (I don't want to wait or deal with the hassle, plus I got burnt for $57 returning a book late once) as opposed to college libraries which usually kick ass).

[Solecord]

$9.99/mon is a lot IMO. I'd have to read a lot of books to make that worthwhile. I'd rather go deal with the public library (although my local library is great).

[Net-Tyme]

Bookmooch.com

[fid]

My public library is great. I can request any book from the libraries in three local counties and have it delivered to the local library for free. For a book from any public library in California there is a shipping fee. They even phone or email when the book is ready for you to pick up at the local library. You can even renew online. They started having downloadable books for mp3 players. Some can be burned to CD. I am on dial-up so those take a while to get. Mars by Ben Bova is 17 CDs. That took most of a day for me to get. I have it in my Walkman phone.
My public library has a great librarian, books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, and VHS tapes. It is about 92 years old. The interior is heart redwood. And was designed by H. W. Longfellow's nephew. The lady who had it built was Teddy Roosevelt's sister-in-law. The town has just over 900 people. I wonder _wtf_ was she doing here in the emerald triangle?