Frugal Reading: Before the Hunt

I am a little bit obsessed with books – my house is literally overflowing with them. I have a way of just accruing books without really trying (see #5 below!), and lots of strategies for getting books cheap or free. I love owning, but there are lots of other ways I consume books on the cheap as well.

I thought it would be fun to write on my favorite frugal reading hacks (I’m a blogger now, so that means I get to call my strategies “hacks”). Before getting into the where, I will go over the how. Here are some basic rules to live by that will make you a better bargain book hunter.

1. Keep a list of your to-reads, and have it with you always. I like to use Goodreads to keep track because all the info is right there from author to ISBN. I can accessit  from my phone anywhere to review my to-reads or add a book. I take advantage of custom shelves and have a “to buy” shelf for books I’m most eager to acquire.  In the past I’ve used Google Keep or a Moleskine that fit nicely in my purse. Whatever works for you, but if you’re writing down your list don’t forget to include the author. That was always my mistake.
2. Embrace used. Personally, I prefer a used book to a new one. There is just something about giving that book another chance to be read, imagining who read it in it’s past, and taking in that old book smell. Every used book has a story that you could be a part of. When I was choosing a book to read on my trip to Paris last year, I picked up a used copy of Emma I’d purchased years ago and flipped through the pages. You know what I found? A train ticket from the Gare de Lyon in Paris for a bookmark. This book had already been to Paris! A new book could never be that cool.

   

   This book has been to Paris twice!

3. It helps to be into the classics. Great, cheap copies of classics are everywhere, even brand new. Most are in the public domain, meaning there are plentiful free ways to consume these books, some of which are excellent.
4. Constant vigilance! Once you train yourself to be on the lookout, you’ll find there are used books everywhere.
5. Don’t hide your bibliophilia. People give me books all the time, both on special occasions and completely spontaneously. When I was pregnant, I had a separate shower from each side of the family and they both came up with the exact same theme–baby books–and sent practically identical invitations. That’s because everyone knows I’m crazy about books. I had a coworker who gave me her books when she was done reading them even though they weren’t books I would like because she thought I could sell them at Half Price Books and get something I would like. When people ask what I want for Christmas, you can bet I have a slew of books on my wish list. And besides gifts, friends always send me tips if they discover a used book sale, or a clearance sale at CPH.org. If your love of books is well-known, they basically fall out of the sky.

   

   A bookish birthday gift!

6. Budget for books. Let’s face it, I’m going to buy books whether I’ve budgeted for them or not. Planning for a bit of book spending means you won’t have to starve just because you found a book you simply couldn’t leave behind. And setting some limits helps you be discerning about what you bring home. I always get very excited in bookstores and pick up a billion books, but I pare it down to keep my spending reasonable. This also helps me bring home only quality books I’d actually read.
7. That leads nicely into my last point–just because a book is cheap (or even free!) doesn’t mean it’s a good value. I may find a book I’ve been looking for at a garage sale for a quarter but, on inspection, find it has obnoxiously narrow margins, tiny font, dog-eared pages, and the like. I would rather hold out for quality. Do you hate holding large hardcover books? Is that movie cover paperback just not as attractive as the original cover art? Do you hate it when a books has writing and underlines all over? Then you might not want to bring books like that home, because you are unlikely to enjoy reading them–or read them at all. I used to bring books like this home all the time because it was free or cost ten cents, but they just became clutter in my home. I often bought a second copy of the same book because I found it more aesthetically pleasing. Know what you like in a book and don’t settle for just anything with pages.

Because I could tell my post was going to get ridiculously long if I went into detail on all my favorite frugal book sources, I will be splitting it up into a series and periodically highlighting one at a time.

 

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