One of the few books that I bought for my Kindle: Mr. Right and Other Mongrels by Monique McDonell
When Grandpa bought me a Kindle for Christmas two years ago, my friend was totally shocked that I liked the gift. Since she knows I am frugal verging on cheap, she assumed that I would not like having to buy books to read. My friend is right about a few things. First of all, I am frugal. Secondly, I hate buying books, especially fiction books that I will read just one time.
What she didn’t realize at the time is that it’s not necessary to buy books just because I have an e-reader. It is possible to own, use, and love your e-reader without spending a lot of money on books. And I am going to tell you how!
1. Find sources for updates on free books
I used to read a daily blog entitled “Free Kindle Books and Tips” and I got a lot of great free books from this source. Amazon provides a list in their Kindle store of the Top 100 Free Kindle Books. Because I like Christian fiction, my favorite source for free or reduced books is www.inspiredreads.com . This site offers only Christian books for free or at greatly reduced prices. I know there are other sites that will update you with lists of free books, but this list should get you started.
2. Use the library
I gave a big cheer when our library finally started to offer e-books that are compatible with Kindle devices. I have borrowed e-books from my library on numerous occasions, and the process is very simple. Our local public library offers a one hour class from time to time to teach people how to reserve and download books from the library website to their e-readers. Don’t be afraid to contact your librarian to ask about the availability of e-books.
3. Borrow and lend to friends
This really only works if you have friends. And if those friends have tastes similar to yours in their reading material. I have a friend who has lent me books in the past. If there is a book that we both want to read, we can share the cost and both read it for one purchase price.
4. Amazon Prime
If you have Amazon Prime, you are entitled to borrow one book a month for free from Amazon. The problem with this source of free books is that not many of the books that I want to read are available as free lenders. Many popular books are available, and this is, in fact, how I read The Hunger Games and Catching Fire without having to pay for them or to wait for months for the library copy. I do force myself to choose one free book a month just because it’s a perk of the plan, and I’m not about to let it go to waste.
If you are a cheapskate … or just frugal, don’t let that stop you from enjoying your e-reader. You don’t always have to pay to read.
If any of you have other suggestions about ways to save on e-reader books, please leave a comment and share your tips.
We have purchased Kindle e-readers for everyone in our family. There are some advantages that I would like to share. My parents love theirs for several reasons; they do not have to drive out to the library to get reading material, they can have large print without the ‘weight’ of a big book, they can get samples to see if they want a book, and they can shop for books leisurely in the comfort of their own home without having to stand around a book store or library. I think every senior should have one. The Philly Free Library has a pilot program to loan Kindle Ereaders to seniors!
Also, my grandson has a severe reading disorder called Dyslexia. By using his Kindle set to a very large font, it allows him the joy of reading because we can managing the amount of text per page. He is now able to read many of the same books his peers are reading, but is not overwhelmed by too much text per page. It’s amazing. I think this is a great tool, and perhaps we will see them used in school in the future!
The last comment I would like to make regarding the ‘frugal’ aspect of owning a Kindle is that you can have multiple members of your family all on the same Amazon account. This is beneficial because then we all have access to everything each other buys without having to loan them. We each have a payment method, and do not have our account set to click and pay, but rather we must choose a payment method for each purchase. The only thing to remember is that all purchases must be made from the computer rather than from the device, but we’ve been functioning very well with this plan for several years…and have a very large library of Kindle books to show for it!
Ann, thank you so much for sharing all of this information here! You shared some valuable tips for e-reader users.
I have an iPad and read e-books on that. I also have the Nook app and the Kindle app and every so often, e-books will go on sale. I’ve bought a number of books for .99 to 2.99 – I figure, I’d spend more in gas going to the library.
I believe to be eligible for the free “lending library” with Amazon Prime you need a “real” Kindle, not just the Kindle app (please correct me if I’m wrong…I so would love to be wrong on this one). Thanks for the link to the “Kindle Books and Tips” blog – I’ll have to check it out.
I still read “real” books occasionally, but I’ve found myself trying to tap on a word to look up a definition. Duh.
Betina, I’m not sure about the Amazon Prime lending for non-Kindle owners. I’ve never checked that out since I do own a Kindle (or two).
Did you know that the Philadelphia Library has the largest public system in the world, and you can get a free library card, just go to freelibrary.org and get any book you desire! try it!
Yes, I do have a library card for the Philadelphia Free library, Mordine. I have used it often for audiobooks. Thanks for adding that as I neglected to mention that in my post.
Elaine I am very honoured that you chose to buy my book and feature it here
My pleasure, Monique. I enjoyed reading it!
I received my Kindle Fire from Christmas for my husband and was blown away by the screen resolution. I wasn’t sure a life-long reader like me would adapt to on screen reading, but I have.
I, too, do not spend money on books and am familiar with all your suggestions except for inspiredreads, so thanks for that one.
My one Kindle book purchase was Interrupted by Jan Hatmaker. I was so blown away by her book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess (a book that a frugal, Godly woman like you might also love) that I had to buy Interrupted which is sort of the prequel to 7.
Elizabeth, I have read the sample of 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. In fact, I may have been introduced to that book by your blog. I would love to read the entire book and will probably buy it. You must check out the Inspired Reads site. I get tons of free books from there.
Elaine- did you know you are allowed to “share” your Kindle books with a friend
for free 1x?
Pamela,
I did know that, and I will probably take advantage of that feature at some point. Thanks for commenting!
You can loan SOME of your kindle books, not all of them. You can loan them out if the publisher had authorized this feature, and only once to one person. So you couldn’t say…loan it to 10 of your best friends.
Also, another ‘relatively’ cheap idea is audible.com. I ordered it for my grandfather to get audio books to listen to when he was under the weather. You set up how many credits you want to get each month, then the books you pick out will be downloaded onto your kindle automatically (audible is an amazon company). You end up paying only a fraction of what buying the audible book would cost, and it’s yours to keep/relisten to forever if you wish. You can also set them up to go to another device (phone, ipod, MP3 player, PC…)
This was super nice when I had to drive in a long way to work but now that I’m working at home…I wasn’t using it so I cancelled the subscription. Still, it might be worth looking into if you want to listen to your book while doing something else (crocheting? knitting? sewing? house cleaning?? UGH on that last one…)
The Philly free library, by the way, has audible book options too. They work with your MP3 player though, (iPod or any other brand) instead of your kindle.
Thanks, Jen, for clearing up the matter of loaning Kindle books. I have never done that yet myself.