Friday Faves is a feature where I share whatever bookish thing I saw or share books I read during the week.
Bookish problem number one is CASH, I think. Books are GOOD but unfortunately, they do cost a fair amount of money. Especially if you’re like me who obsessively buys books (physical or digital) regularly.
In the few years since I have been actively blogging, I have found a few ways to NOT spend as much money on books. Of course, there is the proverbial secondhand bookstore where you can get books at a bargain. But how often do you find recently released books there? Plus, if you are like me, I prefer to buy things in the comfort of my own home.
Undoubtedly, there is a certain kind of thrill in the act of browsing books at the bookstore and a certain kind of euphoria when you actually find a good book at a secondhand bookstore. I know this because I used to shop at a secondhand bookstore. In fact, that was where I was introduced to historical romance.
Here are a few ways where you can enjoy the newest books without breaking your wallet.
Note: These are the places that I have personally tried.
Public Library
Last year, I recently stumbled upon the Overdrive Media Console App and was ecstatic when I found out that I could borrow ebooks AND audiobooks from the local library (in my case, the LA Public Library). I had been borrowing books since 2005 at the library when I moved here but for the last 3 years, I haven’t borrowed due to the fact that it became such a hassle to pick the books up and return them.
This app is available for free for iOS and Android and using it is pretty simple. Borrowing and browsing books is also easy. Unfortunately, the downsides are: 1) the time it takes to wait for the newest, most popular book; and 2) the availability of the book in the library. (yes, some books ARE not available at the library); and 3) your library does not offer ebooks/audiobooks via app.
My Thoughts
The Overdrive Media Console App made it possible for me to borrow books to my hearts content from home. Best of all, it’s free! Sure, I had to wait a while to borrow the newest, most popular books since a lot of people borrow them, but what the heck. It’s FREE, anyway!
I find the app pretty easy to use and I also get emails whenever a book I have on queue is now available for me to borrow. There is also a nifty feature that automatically borrows the book for you since it can only be in hold for about 3 days once it becomes available to you.
Audible
Audible is another cheaper way to get your hands on the latest and hottest audiobooks available on the market. This comes as a monthly subscription. Think Netflix, but for audiobooks. It costs $14.95 a month for 1 free audiobook of your choice and an additional 30% off on other books once your free book quota has been used that month. They also have a neat option to roll over your credits if you do not want to buy any audiobook for that month. They also have levels of membership for a higher monthly fee if you want more book credits.
If you have been living under a rock and do not know this, Audible is an Amazon company so it also has whispersync for ebooks that you have purchased so that you can switch between ebook and audiobook (this is only available if you have a Kindle).
My Thoughts
The Audible App helped me discover my love for audiobooks. I believe this is where I read The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare, which is one of the first audiobooks I listened to.
Unfortunately, I am not actively subscribed to Aduible at this time because it IS $14.95 AND I do not really re-listen to any audiobook that I have purchased so it does defeat the purpose of the subscription. I did try the service for 4 months, though AND I think it is worth it if you are a voracious audio book listener.
Oyster
Osyter is like the Netflix of ebooks. It costs $9.95 a month and gives you access to a slew of ebooks, some NYT Bestsellers. And although they don’t feature “hot off the press” books, they have a pretty good library of books from multiple genres to choose from.
My Thoughts
The Oyster App is an awesome way to check out books without having to stay in queue. If available, you are able to download and read the ebook ASAP.
What I love about this service is that I am able to check out favorite author backlists that I haven’t read yet. Because I love historical romance, I love that most of my favorite authors’ books are available through that service.
Scribd
Scribd, same as with Oyster is like the Netflix of ebook AND now they have added Audiobooks! at only $8.99 per month, I think this is the better option!
My Thoughts
Scribd is a pretty awesome deal because they now offer Audiobooks. Of course, with my genre, they still have a few titles listed there and since they barely started this addition to their service, I haven’t had the time to really look into it. I will definitely give you guys an update as to the audiobooks offered by this service.
Again, with Historical Romance being my favorite genre, I see a LOT of backlists from my fave authors that I haven’t read yet.
Leave a Reply