Today’s post is all about how you can save money on reading – something I’ve mastered over the years as I am a huge reader and am never far from a book.
I love to read! It’s my escape from real life when I need a break, my way to switch off when I want to relax and the best way to clear my mind on a night before I go to sleep.
I have a Kindle e-reader which is always filled with nice easy reading books – and by easy reading, I don’t mean books with no big words and lots of pictures, I mean books that don’t need much brainpower and that always have a happy ending. 😂 I spend a lovely half an hour every fortnight or so loading it up with new books ready to read and then I really enjoy working my way through them over the following couple of weeks.
I do read non-fiction books too though and prefer them to be physical books which I know is weird but it’s maybe because I don’t read this kind of book in bed on a night and feel like I’m learning from a non-fiction book so I like to actually have it in my hand to be able to refer back to relevant sections.
Oh, and a holiday around the pool book always has to be a paperback. Preferably one picked out after much deliberation from the airport book shop. 😂
However and whatever you like to read, here are my suggestions on how to save money on reading…
Join your library
Clearly, I couldn’t write a post telling you how to save money on reading without mentioning your library which is the best source of free books that you have! You get to go, browse the bookshelves and choose books to borrow without paying a penny and if they don’t have a book in that you want then you can usually ask them to order it in for you.
I spent hours in my library when I was younger but unfortunately, a number of libraries near me have closed now so it’s no longer easy for me to get there which is why I would encourage you to use yours if you still have a local branch because the more people who use it, the less likely it is to close down.
Check out your local charity shops and car boot sales
The charity shops near me seem to have a never-ending supply of books with such a wide range that I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll find at least one good book every visit. I have tried to reduce the number of books I buy now though as I prefer my Kindle so I rarely buy one – even so, I still always have a quick look through the bookshelves just in case there’s something there that catches my eye.
There’s also the charity book stands in your local supermarkets that you can buy cheap books from and you’ll get some great deals on books at your car boot sales.
Join a Book Swap group on Facebook
There are lots of book swap groups on Facebook where you can share books you have available to swap so have a search through to see if there’s one for your favourite book genre or one that’s local to you or just join one of the larger UK wide groups. I just searched book swap and got a list of loads of groups with Book Swap in the group name.
The one I’m in is called The UK Book Swap which seems like a fab group but I’ll be honest, I’ve never actually done a swap myself as I prefer to just give my used books to people I know will enjoy it.
Make a book swap club with your family and friends
It can be as simple as a Whatsapp group with your family and friends where you just post a book you have read and see who wants it. Keep an eye on other people doing the same and if you see when you fancy then shout up and get a book for free which you can then pass on again when you’re done.
This is what I do with my books most of the time although I do often message someone specifically and say I have a book I think they’ll like and some of my friends do the same to me. 😂
Take advantage of special offers
I’m a Kindle girl these days so I often check out the Kindle Daily Deals page where there’ll be some greatly reduced offers on bestsellers, including newly released books on occasion. They also have an easy way to search for their most popular free ebooks with their 100 free Bestsellers list.
There are lots of other websites where you can download free ebooks from which is something I haven’t used since I got my Kindle Unlimited subscription a few years ago – just google free ebooks and you’ll get lots of sites to have a look through. Project Gutenberg is the biggest of the sites that allow you to download ebooks for free but their focus is on older books mostly by US authors so depending on your preference, this may not be the one for you.
Join Kindle Unlimited
You should know by now how much I love the Kindle Unlimited subscription service which saves a fortune for someone who reads as much as I do. I’ve written about how much I love it here with a few more details about how it works but basically for £7.99 a month I can choose from over a million books to download and if you’ve never used it before then you can get a free 30 day trial so you can see why I love it so much!
It does work for other e-readers too if you don’t have a Kindle but if you are thinking of getting an e-reader then I can’t recommend the Kindle more. It’s genuinely the best thing I’ve ever bought. I prefer an e-reader to a book now but that’s because I read in bed and a small e-reader is just so much easier!
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