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I have a family who loves to read. My oldest daughter is a speed reader and goes through a new book about every other day. I love that we are readers but it can be a really expensive hobby if you buy each book at your nearest store paying full price.
In order to keep my book lovers happy, I have had to get creative on how to save money on books. Although, not all of these are free, the rest are a cheap way to read books without breaking the bank.
Here are 11 ways to read books for free or cheap!
1. Your Local Library
This is the all time cheap (as in free) way to read books if you return them on time. If you are notoriously late returning library items it may be cheaper to do one of the other methods listed below.
The other great thing about the library is if they don’t have the book you are looking for, you can try an interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loans are where you basically rent a book (for a small fee) from a different library. Your library will request it for you, the other library ships it to your local library and you check it out. The checkout time is usually a little shorter and when you are finished you return the book to your local library and they ship it back. Some libraries even do interlibrary loan for free, mine does not so be sure to ask!
2. Swap Books At PaperBackSwap.com
I have really enjoyed swapping books at PaperBackSwap.com.
It is a cheap way to get books and also to not fill your house full with book clutter. When you sign up, you list 10 of your books that you are willing to trade for new ones (you will not be getting them back). Once you have those 10 books in the system, you receive 2 credits. Each time someone requests one of your books and you send it out, you will receive one credit when they log in saying they’ve received their book.
In the end what you pay for is your postage to mail your books to swap for the books you are wanting to add to your reading list. (Once you’re done reading the new book you can either put it back on the swap, keep it, or do whatever you want…it is now your book). If you really want to keep this cheap, add only lightweight books as the heavier ones need more postage, costing more.
Here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way with PaperBackSwap.com.
First, I would add books to your wish list. You can look at the books they have already listed but it can be overwhelming. When one of the books on your wishlist becomes available, you will get an email from PaperBackSwap and you will have 48 hours to respond to the offer. (If you would find the book somewhere else in the meantime, you can decline the offer).
Another tip is when you list newer and more popular books they are more likely to be wished for by someone else. If you enjoy garage sales or thrift shops you might be able to find some popular books to add to your list to get other books on your list very cheaply.
3. Borrow From Family & Friends
This is another great way to read for free! Just be sure you know the expectations before taking the books. If they want the book make sure to return it. Keep a list of where the book came from and be sure to return it how you received it!
4. Earn gift cards with Swagbucks
I have recently become more and more excited about Swagbucks. A trick for earning free books is that Swagbucks offers Barnes and Noble and Amazon gift cards as rewards. I usually choose Barnes and Noble and I will tell you why. First, I can shop through Ebates giving me additional cash back. Second, Barnes and Noble offers coupons off their books and if I can combine a coupon, free shipping, Ebates, and a gift card that is an awesome frugal deal!
5. Buy Used Books From Amazon
I do this a lot! Many times if it’s a book that has been out for over a year you can buy a used one for pennies plus shipping. For example, my Maddie loves Jessica Burkhart’s Canterwood Crest books. Chasing Blue (one of the books in this series is $7.99 and free shipping over $35. If you go to used paperbacks it’s listed for $0.01 + $3.99 shipping so it’s half off! Not only that, you don’t have to order another $27.01 to get free shipping.
6. Check Out Barnes and Nobles Bargain Books
This is a great way to save on books if you are looking to buy something to read. Be sure to go through Ebates to get cash back!
7. Garage Sales
Garage sales are one of my favorite ways to get children’s books cheap. Most that I go to have all of their books listed anywhere from $.25 to $1.00. I have also found many books for myself like Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life
8. Download Free E-Books Using Kindle Readers
When I list out Amazon’s free Ebooks here on the blog these are the books you can download to your mobile device and read them for free. I don’t have a Kindle but I use my Droid cell phone or my Ipad to read them and enjoy these free titles!
9. Request books from the publisher
If you are a blogger and are willing to write a review (even if you aren’t necessarily a blogger this can still apply) publishers love to send out free books for a review. A few things to be careful about before requesting free books. Make sure you can do the review timely. Don’t request a book just to get a free book. If you don’t want to read it, don’t request it.
10. Thrift Stores
Recently Maddie started reading a series that is no longer in print. I’ve been thrilled to find several of the books at our local Goodwill and other thrift stores because buying them online is getting expensive and I can’t find many of them on PaperBackSwap. Check back regularly as books are a frequent item that gets donated!
11. Used Book Sales
Each February our local library holds it’s used book sale. This is a great way to get deeply discounted books and also support your library! School libraries do these sales from time to time, too. If you don’t know when your library will have one, contact the librarian! You might find exactly what you were looking for!
How do you find cheap books?
Have you enjoyed what you read here today? Do you have friends or other women you know that could benefit from this resource? If so, please do me a favor! I have included the links below to share with other intentional women! They’ll be glad you did!
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