I know this will sound a bit crazy but I have so many points I don't know what to do with them. Can I trade them with other members for something other than books? Can I offer them for sale? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Lola's contest on another forum.

Go to the new forum, highlight the link in the address-bar, right click, select COPY, go back to this forum to spruick the new thread, go PASTE.
When you go back to the page you've just added a link to, it will be highlighted.
I think that's what called a hyperlink??

HTH

Happy pondering -- I look forward to your contest!

First, the anticipation builds as the hour draws near. The seconds pass until, if the fates allow, footsteps are heard on the front path. My pulse quickens as I listen to the tell-tale sounds of arrival. I yearn to fling wide the door and fold my love into my embrace, but I manage to hold back lest the neighbors witness my passion and expose me. I undo the latch and usher in my newest companion. To our private room we go and there with trembling fingers I start to work at the fastenings. Gently, even softly in the beginning, but as eagerness builds, so too my fervor...firmly, eagerly, hungrily...soon in a wild frenzy, what remains of the vestments are torn away. My breath catches as I first behold the full splendor of my newest conquest. I pull closer the object of my abandon, admiring the face, caressing the back, running my fingers down the spine. Hours of pleasure await us, and as I slowly, lovingly, wantonly open the folds, I whisper to myself those most promising of words... "Chapter One".

For my 'mate' in Oz, an unworthy but heart-felt thanks for the compliment given.

Those who say give to charity, put up or shut up here is what you should do: smooch a member a boat load of points, give to a charity a boat load of points and realize everyone can see what everyone else has done and what they have received.

That said, it is a sad day when a member asks an honest and frustrated question and the "cabal" descends. . .jackals, dingos and hyenas all.

Without new members there would be no new mooch opportunities and venting frustration here should not be shut down unless you "original" members want this site to die a slow death due to your insular thinking.

1) donate some points to charity

2) widen your literary net (add to your wishlist)

3) donate to others

4) offer point refunds/discounts

5) run a contest (admittedly a variation on the 3rd point).

I think these are all valid suggestions, and I wouldn't characterize anyone's responses as being 'jackal'esque. That being said, 4 of the 5 are essentially saying "give your points away" which Karen may not want to do.

I am the poster child for spending points, to which my sagging bookshelves will attest. I have been known to give away a point or two now and again in refunds or a brief foray into pure altruism (winks to my Bookmooch karmic gurus Melinda, Margot and Michelle...must be something with names that begin with M...), but by and large, like most people on the website, I want books. Were I in the US, I'd have 150 more points (and hundreds fewer rejections), but I would likely have spent those points, too. But, putting myself in Karen's shoes, I have a few more suggestions (none of them original, and all varied takes on the second point above):

6) replace tatty, worn-out copies of books you have and want to keep

7) expand your reference library

8) mooch on behalf of friends and family...I've recently taken to mooching books for my children's future reading pleasure (I can't say I'm really interested myself in reading the Anne of Green Gables series, but I've got most of the books already or they are somewhere in the process of getting here...and my daughter just turned two)

9) have a Da Vinci Code bonfire...just kidding (but you could mooch hundreds of copies and not really deprive anyone...hell, with the promise of pictures, I'd send my copies for free)

As for selling your points or trading for other things, you can always post an offer to charity some points to someone in exchange for sending you something you've been wanting (like that used Victorian-era porcelain chamber pot I've been dying to buy on eba...er...never mind).

I hope some of these options are helpful.

(I wonder if I'm considered part of the "cabal"...do they get membership cards?)

"A cabal is a number of people greater than two together in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in a church, state, or other community, often by intrigue. Cabals are sometimes secret societies composed of a few designing persons, and at other times are manifestations of emergent behavior in society or governance on the part of a community of persons who have well established public affiliation or kinship. The term can also be used to refer to the designs of such persons or to the practical consequences of their emergent behavior, and also holds a general meaning of intrigue and conspiracy. Its usage carries strong connotations of shadowy corners, back rooms and insidious influence; a cabal is more evil and selective than, say, a faction, which is simply selfish; because of this negative connotation, few organizations use the term to refer to themselves or their internal subdivisions."

JDV, I'm really quite offended yet bewildered at your opinions here.
There are some really strong negative connotations in the above Wiki definition.
What of our responses to Karen has attempted to shut the discussion down? There have been several ideas put forward.

Just to clarify JDV; Are you suggesting that members who give their points to other members including charities, are somehow showing off & want forum readers to see what they have given away?
(that is what I understand of your second paragraph)

Looking back over the progress of the thread that Karen first posed, the only thing I can see, is that perhaps the collective responses have done is hijack the thread towards the contest ideas for a little while there.
Even then it's back to the original point now.
(Thanks for everyone's ideas)

Just sitting here typing, still quite puzzled as to what we've done/said wrong...
Perhaps, you think it got too 'clicky' there for a while??

Of course I have *thousands* of books on my wishlist and check the wishlists of above mentioned far flung friends frequently (highly alliterative that)

Interestingly enough when you look up "Clique" in the Oxford dictionary, "Cabal" is a synonym.

What is amusing is that the origin of the word is from the Old French verb, and yes I do speak French, Cliquer which means "to make noise" but that is what a clique, cabal and a coterie does, oh my goodness, another synonym, to drown out voices that are not welcome or might "offend" certain sensibilities or beliefs.

Some additional ideas for you:

1) Check your wishlist frequently, don't wait to receive an e-mail. There is no waiting list for wishlisted books, so once a book is listed it is up for grabs for anyone who sees it. Some people subscribe to the RSS feeds for this (I don't know how to do this, but I'm sure someone else will be able to tell you how it works).

2) If you have some favorite authors you might want to go to www.fantasticfiction.co.uk and look them up to see if they have written something you might have missed, or maybe they have written things under a different name that you might like.

3) Post a message in the Booksearch Among Friends Forum, letting people know what books you are looking for. Someone may have them, but just not have gotten around to listing them yet.

4) Try new authors. If you post a message in the Forum telling people what kind of things you like to read you are sure to get many recommendations for books that are similar. I've found a lot of new authors this way. And the great thing about Bookmooch is that if you try a new author and don't like it, you can always re-list the book.

5) Try and be patient. I will often go weeks or even months without a wishlist hit only to suddenly get 5 or more in a day.

And JDV, please try and ease up on the rhetoric. Nobody here said that giving points away was a mandatory part of Bookmooch, or that it made someone better because they do, or worse because they don't. It was offered as a suggestion of what to do with extra points because it is what many people do. The only judgments I see in this thread seem to be coming from you.

There are many topics that are open to heated debate on Bookmooch, and all opinions are welcome. Descending to name calling when opinions are offered that differ from your own is very counterproductive and will tend to make people dismiss anything you have to say whether of value or not.

So JDV, you think that the members chatting to each other on this thread is cliquey? You didn't say so as such, but that's how I take it. Well pardon me for not spelling it correctly. Huh!
You still haven't explained how we tried to shut this thread down.

Jackals, hyenas, "original" members, shutting the thread down, insular thinking, in us suggesting charitying points to others there was an insinuation of scavenging points, that we were saying to Karen to 'put up or shut up' (? points) (JDV's words), cabal, that charitying points = showing off.

I have a very good record here at BM, & I intend to defend it.

A corrected version of the "offending" sentence (and I use the term loosely) might be:
What is amusing is that the origin of the word is from the Old French verb (and yes, I do speak French), "cliquer", which means "to make noise". That is what cliques, cabals and coteries do (oh my goodness, another synonym): to drown out voices that are not welcome or might "offend" certain sensibilities or beliefs.

If we want to continue debating whether or not there are cliques or factions within Bookmooch that attack new members, or continue correcting each others use of the English language, or just bashing each other in general, then maybe we should start another thread. Who knows, it could prove entertaining.

There are also book cataloging sites like GoodReads, Shelfari and, my favorite, LibraryThing, where you can find interesting books by reading discussions, exploring other people's libraries and going to the book page of a book you liked and finding recommendations.

Online bookstores, such as Amazon, offer plentiful recommendations.

Go explore a bit, adding books that strike your fancy to your wishlist.

Kara

Anything that members pitched in response were suggestions only. It was not scabbing points from another member; it was not judging charity given or not; it was not showing off; it was not commenting on how others spend their points per se, but rather telling ones own story about spending your own points.
Tell me, what perspective can any BM member put on this question (or anything else for that matter), other than to say how/what they do themselves?

Kara