The Daily Monocle

August 28th is a very special day for me. It's my birthday. But this year, I want to make August 28th a special day for other people too—more specifically, I want to give a big ol' Daily Monocle greeting to our troops overseas. I'm talking about donating books through Operation Paperback.

Operation Paperback is a wonderful program that sends boxes of paperback books—both gently used and new—to USA troops overseas. An ideal shipment sends about twenty books of various genres, and the best part is that all of these materials are sent in by volunteers like you and me.

This year for my birthday, I'm hosting a book drive for Operation Paperback on The Daily Monocle. My goal is to fill a whole box of books (or more!) for the troops. And, my dear bookworms, as a volunteer for Operation Paperback, I'm inviting you to join me on this exciting adventure.

Now, filling a box of books by yourself can get kind of expensive. Even if the books you pack are used, they're still going to cost $3 a piece at least. Add to that something like $5 or $10 for shipping, and you're looking at upwards of $70.

So instead of asking you all to fill a box on your own, we're going to fill a box as a community. From today on through September 11th, The Daily Monocle will be hosting a book collection. There are several ways you can help:

1. I've added a 'donate' button to the sidebar of The Daily Monocle. This is through Paypal, and is completely secure. If you want to donate something towards Operation Paperback, you can use this button. Everything that is donated will go towards buying books and/or packing/shipping supplies for Operation Paperback. Keep in mind that each book costs $3-$5. And if you want me to use your donation to buy books in a specific genre, you can contact me and I'll do my best.

2. Do you have a book or two on your bookshelves looking for a home? You can send me these books directly, and I'll send them on with all the other books to Operation Paperback. It only costs a couple of dollars to send a book in a padded envelope. Contact me here, and we'll work out the details.

3. Or, if you feel so inclined, you can go ahead and sign up on Operation Paperback and pack your own boxes. The suggested size is 20 books per box.

If you donate something—anything at all—to Operation Paperback through this collection on The Daily Monocle, I'll feature your blog in my sidebar for the month of September after the collection ends.

This is a community endeavor, so if you want to share this mission on your blog, you're more than welcome to grab the spiffy new Operation Paperback button in the sidebar, and link it to this post. Blog, facebook, tweet, and tell your friends about this collection.

If you do decide to participate, take a look at these guidelines, and then fill out the form below.

- Books need to be in good condition. No tanned pages, rips, highlights, missing covers or water damage.
- Books should not be racist or sexually explicit. (No erotica or romance please)
- The most popular requested genres are Action/Adventure, Thriller, Science-Fiction, Fantasy, Bestsellers and Humor.

**I know I said "interview" on the form. I meant "post". I can't fix it now though. :p**