Today’s Very Good Idea award goes to BookMooch, a site where book lovers can unload titles they no longer need, and search to see whether anyone else is getting rid of something they’re looking for. In its frugality and community-mindedness, the BookMooch model is like freecycling, but with a luscious interface and a stylishly geeky persona all its own.

The perfect way to find the things I didn’t get for Christmas, I say, while rinsing the greasy film of holiday consumerism off to boot!