Book Lover's Hack: Ultimate Guide to free and cheap books!!!
My recommendations on how you can be a total book nerd without busting the bank!
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00:00 Intro
01:49 Free Books
04:22 Cheaper Books thriftbooks.com
08:21 The Ultimate ereader solution kobo.com
10:46 The BEST new trick https://www.bookbub.com/launch
11:35 The Horrors of Talking To Authors
Discover the ultimate guide to scoring free and cheap books with this must-watch video for every book lover! From hidden gems in local libraries to digital deals and online resources, we share top hacks to help you grow your TBR without breaking the bank. Learn where to find free eBooks, discounted audiobooks, and secondhand treasures that’ll satisfy your love for reading while saving money.
We’ll cover platforms like Project Gutenberg, Libby, Kindle Unlimited, and BookBub, plus tips on thrift stores, book swaps, and subscription services. Whether you’re into physical books, eBooks, or audiobooks, this guide is packed with actionable tips to maximize your book budget and keep your shelves (and devices) full.
Keywords:
Book lover hacks, free books guide, cheap books tips, where to find free eBooks, discounted audiobooks, Kindle Unlimited tips, Libby app guide, Project Gutenberg free books, BookBub deals, thrift store book finds, book swaps ideas, affordable reading tips, save money on books, free and cheap books for readers, book lover tips, TBR budget hacks.
Hashtags:
#FreeBooks #CheapBooks #BookLoverHacks #SaveOnBooks #ReadingHacks #KindleUnlimited #LibbyApp #BookDeals #BookBudget #ReadingTips
One of the many librarian goblins here to remind everyone: if your local branch doesn’t have what you’re looking for, most libraries are part of larger systems and can pull books in from sister libraries (called and inter-library loan). Your collections librarian also generally loves to here suggestions from their patrons so that they can make sure that their collection is tailored to the interests of their users.
Library Genesis lol
Do you have a method for saving money while getting through your tbr? LET US KNOW! Edit: I’m being told Bookdepository closed down? Wow wasn’t aware of that.
I buy almost all my books from thriftbooks, abebooks, world of books or goodwill.
I check out books from the library all the time without even having to step foot in the building. My library uses the Libby app, and I can browse check out and read ebooks and audio books from my phone/tablet. I know not everyone loves that, but I find it so convenient.
Work of book (Wob) is good for cheap books
4:02 even if you don’t live very close to a library, but can get to one to get a card, it will give you access to their online/digital apps. Depending on your library, this includes ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, music, movies, etc.
I’ve also gotten good condition used books for under $5USD from eBay.
I live in a town of around 80,000 between the Rockies and the Mississippi. We have a used bookstore and an awesome library and I use both. I agree those are great resources that go overlooked too many times.
With my library, you can use Libby and hoopla which is great for not just ebooks but also audiobooks. I’ve ready 40 books since February all through this avenue. And Libby works with Kindle too
I’ve seen a lot of people recommend Libby which is a great app. Also in Massachusetts with your library card and the cwmars app you can borrow books from other libraries that are part of the system. Sometimes it takes a bit for the book to get delivered to your local library but using that you can borrow books that your library may not have but others do.
Does BookMooch still exist? I used to use that site all the time. You trade books with other people all over the world, you only pay for shipping. To clarify, if you’re receiving a book, you pay nothing. If you are sending a book, you pay for shipping.
I thought Book Depository closed
The library, Libby and Z-library are your friends 🫶🏻 i read free all the time. I buy the ones I LOVE.
Brookline Booksmith used to be my go-to neighborhood bookstore (before I moved). It was such a throwback seeing it in the video, lol.
Check out ‘Blue Ring Assassins’ Trilogy by Stephen Cohen, historical fiction.
If you’re in the UK, South England, a place called 66 book club has days where allbooks are 70% off or more brand new! I got 10 books last time for £40. The place has 2 floors full of book shelves!
Libraries r the best!! Have totally gotten my kids hooked on books by using the library often and now they literally shout for joy when I say let’s go to the library. I usually have to give them a limit or they would each bring home like 50 books every time we go! It’s the best and using it more never means more cost. Plus our library has all sorts of online ebooks & audiobooks so you don’t even have to physically go to most libraries to get their benefits! Love libraries 🎉
Charity/Thrift shops are also excellent too (UK charity shops consistently have books for 50p -£1.50 per paperback book)
I don’t know if PANGO books has been mentioned. But it’s a great app for buying and selling used books. Although some people do try to price hike special editions.
My local library loans out jigsaw puzzles and board games
Love! Project Gutenberg.
Nowhere else would I be able to find a copy of a magazine from the 1880s that Bram Stoker used in his research in writing Dracula. Amazing research resource on top of reading for fun.
Are you gonna continue the wheel of time read along? like all videos until we get another one!
I love thriftbooks it’s where I normally go to get books!!
he’s explaining how long it takes to get a library card while i’m distracted by the fact that he’s walking by a graveyard 😮
Kayla dodging the pole was hilarious hahaha
Bookbub is fantastic!
Another great tip for the library, some libraries will let you pay a small annual fee to get a non-resident card. Fairfax county in Virginia is only about $28/year, and they have a great selection of SSF books on Libby. It’s a great option if your local library doesn’t have the best online selection.
Addendum to the "free if you return it on time" thing with libraries: some libraries have actually stopped charging late fees for various reasons, so even if life gets in the way it won’t cost you if you’re signed up with one of those. Support your public libraries, people!
As a librarian, thanks for showing how easy it is to get a library card. At our library the card is free for residents and most items do not have late fees. Renewing items is super easy – just send an email, call, or log onto the library website to renew. Easy cheesy. And you don’t need to use an actual reader for ebooks, you can use a tablet. I get free advance copies of ebooks from Netgalley and review them on my blog and Goodreads.
Library genesis is a free online books website
So glad the library was your first one. So many people seem to have forgotten about them!
I’ve sent e-books and even physical books(if I have them) in exchange for reviews
I cant say this loud enough: I love the library!!
After reading the comments here are some ways I have experienced books that I haven’t seen other people talk about too much:
Spotify (maybe other music apps too) with a premium subscription offer a free amount of audio book hours per mounth, and they have quite a wide selection of books that they offer for free with the premium but you can also buy books I think. (Also if that is something that you dont want, you can opt out of it and save a few pounds).
Free listening apps like Libby that many people have said but even just on youtube there people reading books and posting it online for free.
Getting books second hand from charity shop (uk trift shops), car boots sale, shops like tesco and the works can sell books for decently priced or offers too. (Also, when a store either closes down or relocates, they have massives sales in order to get rid of their stock). Second-hand apps liked vinted also can find greats deals on.
Asking the people in your life if they have anybooks they don’t want anymore or if they would like to do a book swap or to borrow it for a period of time.
Some people might disgree, but places like Watpad and the sort do have good stories on there too. In the same vein with Webtoon and other reading apps of the sort. You won’t find the mainstream stuff but there are diminds in the rough for sure.
Instead of buying an e reader, i got my little brothers old tablet and resetted it and only installed play books and it works thesame ( battery life is not that long as an e reader but it still lasts a long time)
I use Book Outlet for my books! They always have sales and still cheaper than Amazon!
I don’t know about you guys but our library shares library cards with other counties around you. It extends your library to be 20x as large as it seems.
As a YouTuber he can’t say it, but if you have kindle or kindle app on any device google “Anna’s archive” you can find pretty much any book free on there
I _should_ get a new library card
It’s worth mentioning on the e-reader topic that the website ‘send to kindle’ is really helpful. It’s a first party way to move documents from a computer to your kindle library. As a result you don’t need to sideload any freely obtained ebooks onto your kindle. Not only does this save you the hassle of changing the kindle’s software, it also makes your free books sync across all your kindle-enabled devices including the smartphone apps.
I love that people have ebooks as an option to read cheaply and I myself have used this for my comics since there are so many I haven’t had the chance to read yet and it’s an affordable way to work through comic runs quickly.
Unfortunately, I just cannot read an ebook rather than an actual book, it just feels wrong not holding a book in my hands, turning pages and seeing my progress through a book.
I love the feeling of picking up a big 1000 page book and gradually working my way through it.
Also owning books and having a shelf of things to read and have been read just warms my heart.
Anyone else get this?
BookBub is the best resource for buying ebooks for me! I do have a library card 😀
I had no clue you were in Boston! You should give the Athenaeum a try, it is a wonderful place! There’s pretty cool book clubs in there for members too!
I freaking love used bookstores
If anyone wants to read a free book online, reply to my comment and i will see if I can find it. Most books I’ve read I found them online for free.
Brookline Booksmith basement is heavenly!
Being a librarian this video was so great! Thank you for highlighting the amazing services that public libraries provide their communities.
i dont know how normal this is, but my library does sales where books are $2, id definitely check those out
I lost my job 3 years ago. I got a new one. This new one lets me listen to audiobooks, music, and whatever. Audiobooks have been a ultimate win. I used to poo poo em. It would take me months to read a book due to distractions and eye pain. Now it takes me a few days, or a coupla weeks if I am taking my time. Honestly I need to save space too. Using audiobooks have vastly shown me more authors than I ever read before. Audiobooks have got me going through far books a year. If I can’t get it for free then I totally spend the bread on it. I retain books easier that way too. I actually have more books now that I actually cherish because there is no audiobook for it. I am saving physical books for a day when I dont have to sit in front of a computer and my eyes dont hurt. Physical books feel like cherished collectors edition cookies I am storing for later, while I can eat all the ice cream I want with audiobooks now. Sorry for the ramble, what I was mainly getting at in connection with your video is that it has also saved me money that I can’t afford to spend otherwise.
How do you do this and not mention the Gutenberg project (maybe I missed it).