Reading can become an expensive addiction - whoops! I mean pastime. Here are some of my favorite budget conscious ways to support my reading habit.
The Library.
If you don't have a library card, get one. If you do have a library card, use it! All the books you want, for FREE. I didn't know until recently that our library doesn't even have late fees. Plus the library has way more than just books. Movies, DVDs, activity kits, tons of stuff. Our library even has a store downstairs where you can buy cheap used books. So basically, this is a sign that you should go explore your local library.
The Library, but on an app.
With that being said, I don't actually check out a lot of physical books from the library. Before you think that entire last paragraph was a bit hypocritical, let me explain. I easily consume over 90% of my books in digital form. My main two reading apps are Libby (the app I use with my local library card) and the Kindle app. If you want to read more, an easy way to do that is to ALWAYS have a book with you. And if you have a library card and the Libby app, then you always have the whole library (ebooks and audiobooks) with you on your phone - for free!
The Kindle App.
I also subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, which more than pays for itself with the amount of reading that I do each year. I love KU. So, so much. There is actually a phenomenal selection of books there. And several of them come with narration, so it is possible to get some audiobooks without having to also subscribe to Audible. I think one of my favorite things about Kindle is the ability to read reviews. I browse a lot of reviews before downloading a book I've never heard of before. I swear, I browse KU with the intensity of a man looking for hidden gems on swap shop Facebook pages. It's serious business, and I am embarrassed to admit that sometimes I fall asleep just browsing the books without ever actually reading anything. Here is the downside to Kindle, everything you click on becomes part of an algorithm that recommends books to you. And I click on some random stuff just because the title is funny, or the cover is ridiculous. And the next thing you know, all your recommendations are for hockey romance novels when you've never even watched a hockey game, much less read a hockey romance novel in your life. To my knowledge, there's no way to reset these recommendations, or even to tell Kindle that you don't like what they're recommending. So...just be careful what you click on - or don't - and just live on the edge!
Bookbub Emails.
Speaking of weird algorithms and off the wall recommendations... another way to find cheap books is through bookbub emails. I get weekly emails from them telling me what books are on sale or even free and where to get them. To be honest, I haven't canceled my email subscription because I find a lot of the recs to be comically awful. I don't know if I've ever actually gotten a book based on a bookbub email, but I have screenshotted COUNTLESS emails to send to my sister and have a good laugh. So, the email subscription does tell you about cheap/free books, but you may or may not be interested in reading any of them. That weekly email is a boost of seratonin though!
Local Book Stores.
LOCAL BOOK STORES! Go find one, or five. Support small businesses. Buy a used book, whether you read it, or put it on your TBR to gather dust, or give it to someone else. As much as I love the convenience of Amazon, I still want small independent bookstores to survive! A real person is in that store. They've probably read a million books. You can probably have a conversation with them and get some actually relevant and accurate book recs immediately. You want a book they don't have, I bet they look out for it with you in mind even after you've left the store. It's worth the extra couple of dollars, I promise! And they're probably using your money to buy more books if we're being honest. Don't sleep on your local bookstore.
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