1. EReaderIQ. Works with Amazon. You install it as a browser extension and then go to the Amazon page of the book you want. It will show you a price history and allow you to set up notifications. You can customize it so it only sends notifications if it drops a certain percentage or dollar amount!
2. Kobo Wishlist. You don't even have to shop at kobo, just have an account. When you add a book to your wishlist, it will email you if that book drops in price. It's not as granular as EReaderIQ, but it works! Usually if a book is in Kobo, it's in other retailers, too.
3. Join your favorite authors newsletter. These newsletters often will let you know if the author is running a discount / sale / bundle before anyone else knows so you can mark your calendars. Indie authors especially will frequently give active newsletter members early access or free review copies.
Adding to this one to also join publisher e-mail lists esp for publishers that put out a lot of genres/authors that you like. Another great way to find those bundles, and some even occasionally drop freebies. I know Tor has.
4. Netgalley, Edlewiess, StoryOrigin, Booksirens. These sites allow readers to create accounts and browse "advance reader copies" - versions of the book that are as close to the final product as possible before its released. You get to read FOR FREE before anyone else if you agree to leave a review.
5. Asking the author for a free review copy. This works different for trad and indie authors, but MANY will be happy to send a digital review copy if they can. Be polite and respectful, and you might end up on a special list where you automatically get a review copy for every release.
6. If you do have a few bucks a month to spend and *don't* want to spend it on Amazon, Kobo Plus and Everand both have "all you can read" subscriptions! Everand automatically includes audiobooks and Kobo Plus allows you to add audiobooks for $2/mo more.
My old standard was to go to thrift stores. The Salvation Army stores always had the lowest prices. On books.
Free little libraries all across this nation . They have a website and many travel pages for your area list those that may not be registered.
See if you can create an Amazon wish list/GoFundMe-type site for avid readers, and post the link in your bio. There are a lot of generous people on this site.
Our county library system spends almost 4m on books every year. That includes ebooks and audiobooks. I place new orders daily! 🥰 For those that enjoy ownership, our local thrift store has hard back books for $1 and paperbacks for .50!!
Go to https://bookfinder.com. If you're looking for a specific book. They show most any book, unless it's very rare. You can get the cheapest ones, which are often under $5. Shipping is about $5 now, with media mail, so that's FREE. If you want random books, go to any thrift shop. They're often $1 or $2.
Get a library card!! Many libraries also have a great online library to choose from, so even smaller libraries are worth getting a library card to. Additionally, public universities are usually open to visitors. Can’t check anything out, but hanging out and reading isn’t a bad weekend, imho. 📚💕
As someone who pinches pennies: Independent used bookstores are magical spaces, where you can get a decent haul for very little. Additionally, some libraries do book sales. I’ve come away with boxes of books for less than $5.
If you like new stuff of extraordinarily mixed quality, one can become a reviewer on sites like NetGallery, BookSirens and BookSprout. Just please actually write a review.
There’s these things in cities and towns called libraries. If you don’t want actual 📚 you can also download digital copies. Revolutionary for about 5000 years, starting with clay tablets. They are wonderful to peruse IRL. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_library
LFLs offer free books, banned books & a way to connect with fellow readers. There's a map of LFLs nationwide. By "share a book" most don't mean you have to donate a book, just perhaps return the books you take to pass on the book love. See @littlefreelibrary.bsky.social https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/
There free ebooks (older books) available online from "Gutenberg press" if hard copies are your preference and you want to own them, libraries, when they replace older books often sell the "well used" copies very cheaply.
If you like mm romance. They sometimes have some ff. You get free books and you review them. There are numerous sites that do this. I used to be a member of several, I can't remember them anymore. Just a simple Google search will help.
I love using Thrift Books. They have new releases as well as older and out of print used books for cheap. I was able to track down a few of my childhood favorites for a few bucks. They also will buy your used books for credit.
I would also recommend charity shops, it’s not often you find anything worth reading, but occasionally you can find some real gems, worth the look if you have the time and it’s relatively inexpensive normally (also it’s going to charity we hope)
3. Also, unfortunately, many libraries in the US are being subjected to censorship and book bans. Florida alone banned over 8,000 books from their public library in the last 5 years, many of them being pinnacles of literature like Toni Morrison's Beloved and Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.
A few reasons:
1. The target of this post is "voracious readers" - people who probably already have a very long hold list at their library and are the reason the library now has a hold limit for accounts.
2. Public libraries, especially free ones, are not universal, unfortunately.
If you want to go retro, Project Gutenberg have been going since the 70s and have an absurdly large amount of Public Domain books in a variety of formats.
Why did I have to go so deep in this thread to find library. Seriously. YOU HAVE A LIBRARY IN YOUR TOWN. YOU PAY TAXES FOR IT. USE IT!!! I find books I want to read and then I go to my library app and check them out. If my local doesn’t have it they get it from another library. Easy.
They are a rare and wonderful privilege, but still a privilege. I love mine, I hope it survives going before SCOTUS. But it's not a universal option, much as I wish it was.
Never been rare for me. When I lived north of here I knew my library. When I lived in California I found my library my first week there. I make sure to use it and appreciate my librarians. They all know me so that something. That said I buy some books too.
1. Well funded, public, free libraries are a rarity. They exist (in dwindling quantity) in the US, but are not a thing the world-over.
2. Libraries are increasingly becoming political battlegrounds, with my own library, the one I go to every other week, about to go before the U.S. Supreme Court
Guess I’m lucky to live in Illinois and be part of the suburban library system which is pretty vast. My local library isn’t fantastic but access to all other libraries in the system is fantastic. All major cities have libraries. I live in a tiny town and we have one.
I feel lucky, too! Mine has all sorts of events and some of the librarians know me better than my family! I've got friends in places where the library doesn't even have A/C in the summer b/c they can't afford it & they can only purchase a handful of new books per year, though. Defend what you have!!
Try writing something you'd like to read. Seriously. If you're a voracious reader you're already partway to what it takes to be a writer. It can be frustrating but it can also pull you in. And if it's not your thing that's fine too. Write what speaks to you and you might surprise yourself.
Little Free Libraries are also amazing! I have found so many great reads there. The full Divergent series, Hunger Games series, and awesome novels like Normal People, Dune, Cloud Cuckoo Land, There There…so many. Plus there’s always some very fun junky reads in them too!
I found a book in one of mine (Kiss Her Once for Me) that I'd JUST put on my wishlist a few weeks prior and did a little happy dance with my dog over it.
If you have a Kindle, there's a site called Bookbub. Sign up (free) and they'll send you daily emails listing a couple of Free or super cheap books you can download. I filled up 2 Kindles to capacity as I downloaded all the free ones. Are they the best quality of books? Not usually, but they're free
Libby, Hoopla, Fable, https://Libro.fm, Everand, sign up for your fav author’s newsletters and be an ARC reader (advanced reader copies of books), local libraries, Kindle Unlimited $12/month for unlimited 📚, Amazon Prime has free audiobooks to listen to.
Library card works! If you can only read on an ereader because of eyesight (like me) I think they have something called Libby. Not sure if every library has that. It’s great!
I use a site called open library. Pretty much what the name says. I’ve even managed to find some rare discontinued books I’ve not been able to get physical copies of on there. It’s run by the same people who made the wayback machine too
your local public library. no fee. if they don’t have it, they will get it for you. DVDs, too. Also, lots of public libraries offer special collections that may include baking pans, baby cribs, etc.
Joins public library and check them out on line. My wife read 141 books that way last year using a Canadian library while we sailed the Caribbean. Cost $0
Libraries are an option but kind of boring. I knock over Amazon trucks like they did in The Fast and the Furious, you don’t always get what books you’re looking for but sometimes you get curtains, ironing boards, and even Protein powder, it’s basically a surprise package on eighteen wheels. 🥸
Comments
Free little libraries all across this nation . They have a website and many travel pages for your area list those that may not be registered.
https://everyday-reading.com/where-you-can-get-a-non-resident-library-card/
https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/
If you like mm romance. They sometimes have some ff. You get free books and you review them. There are numerous sites that do this. I used to be a member of several, I can't remember them anymore. Just a simple Google search will help.
"Take a book, leave a book"
Or in your question....
"Take 2 books, leave 1"
1. The target of this post is "voracious readers" - people who probably already have a very long hold list at their library and are the reason the library now has a hold limit for accounts.
2. Public libraries, especially free ones, are not universal, unfortunately.
https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/
https://www.gutenberg.org
https://www.gutenberg.org/
2. Libraries are increasingly becoming political battlegrounds, with my own library, the one I go to every other week, about to go before the U.S. Supreme Court
https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/
For christmas last year, my kids visited 5 or 6 of them and grabbed me a giant stack of books. They were all terrible but I loved it!
I got the whole Discworld series, almost all of Le Guin, and a good chunk of John Scalzi on here. Lots of stuff, usually for like $20.
Public libraries
Borrowing books from friends
Classics in public domain
Free book boxes (like Little Free Libraries)
Why is that not an option ?