Top Ten Tuesday -- Top Ten Bookworm Delights

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

The following are my top ten bookworm delights in no particular order of preference:

1. Bookcrossing --- I've been of Bookcrossing since January 2007. I love the community on Bookcrossing! I am active on the Bookcrossing forums. I have enjoyed exchanging books with other avid readers around the world. I've attended Bookcrossing meet-ups and left books at Official Bookcrossing Zones. I've also had fun participating in various book sweepstakes hosted by various Bookcrossers and participated in read-a-longs as well. Plus so much more!

So what is Bookcrossing:

It's the World's Library. It's a smart social networking site. It's a celebration of literature and a place where books get new life. BookCrossing is the act of giving a book a unique identity so, as the book is passed from reader to reader, it can be tracked and thus connecting its readers. There are currently 1,597,913 BookCrossers and 11,434,915 books travelling throughout 132 countries. Our community is changing the world and touching lives one book at a time.

Bookcrossing's mission is "to connect people through books."

2. Visiting Little Free Libraries --- I love the idea that folks out there have created and maintain these cute little libraries within their own community as a way to connect readers with books!

I also love it when various businesses (like coffee houses) or other places within the community offer a free way to exchange books, whether it's a Little Free Library or not.

3. Independent Bookstores --- Need I say more?? I love promoting small businesses over big chain bookstores. Indie bookstores offer great services like staff picks, book signings, book clubs, and so much more! Some of my favorite indie bookstores include Bart's Books in Ojai, California, The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, California, Bookshop Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California, Elaine's Book Mark - The Paperback Exchange in Escondido, California, The Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, California, and Chaucer's Books in Santa Barbara, California.

4. Book Festivals --- I don't like crowds all that much, but am willing to deal with large crowds of people to attend book festivals. I attended the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, California last year and enjoyed my time there immensely. I look forward to attending other book festivals in the future.

5. Attending Author Signings/Events --- It's so fabulous to meet favorite authors at author signing events at book festivals and independent bookstores. Last year, I met Judy Blume, Garth Stein, Paula Hawkins, and Amy Stewart.

6. Meeting & Discussing Books with other avid readers! Need I say more?? I really do enjoy discussing books with other readers it's so much fun. Especially, when you inspire another person to read a book they haven't read and they end up liking it as much as you do! Plus, I enjoy reading other books that readers recommend to me. I end up discovering new to me authors that I most likely wouldn't have learned about on my own otherwise.

7. Bookplates --- Although, I don't use them very often (because I read a lot of ebooks and listen to audiobooks from Audible), I do like unique bookplates. One of these days, I'll have to start using bookplates more regularly.

8. Magnetic Bookmarks --- This is another one of those bookworm type of items I really like using. However, due to the fact that I read a lot of ebooks & listen to a lot of audiobooks throughout the year, I rarely use magnetic bookmarks as much as I would like to these days... And when I do use bookmarks, I usually end using whatever bookmark is handy.

9. Cloth Bookcovers --- Yup, love these too! I use to use them more frequently in the days before ebooks and also before I became a huge audiobook listener... I only have cloth book covers for mass market paperbacks, so when I read trade size paperbacks or hardback books then using my cloth bookcovers are out of the question.

10. Just About Anything Book Inspired ---- I love book inspired clothing (I recently bought a pair of leggings with a vintage comic books printed on them), book inspired jewelry, totes, etc.

So, which bookworm delights make you a happy camper?