Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Another suggestion - look at your credit card.  I have a Borders Visa card, and I earn points towards Borders gift certificates.  It’s the only credit card I use - so every time I buy gas or groceries, I’m earning money to spend on my book addiction.

Amazon also has a credit card where, you guessed it, you can earn points to be used on Amazon purchases.

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Another option is recycling books—you can sell books on Amazon.com and get store credit. You can also sell your books/cds/whatever to Half-Price Books (if you’re lucky enough to live near one) and you can get store credit that way, too. I know; this means giving up books, but I’m sure we’ve all got at least ONE book somewhere we can stand to part with. (For me, it’s mostly duplicates. But still.)

I do what every graduate student does with just about every expense: mooch off my family! =D My mom is a big romance fan too, and while she generally leans more towards the inspirational and cheesy, our tastes coincide in enough places that I can always yoink a few out of her library when I’m at home.

Also, yard sales are a MUST for any broke romance reader. One in three yardsales will likely have some romance novels going cheap, and you never know what you’re going to find. Sure, a lot of them may be awful, but at a quarter or a dime apiece, you can afford the risk. Same for the library’s used book sale. Go on the last day, get ‘em by the bagful!

I exchange books with a friend in NY. Today it cost me $2.50 to mail her 4 paperbacks that I did not want to keep in an envelope. She’ll send me hers when she’s done. We write funny stuff on stickies on each cover as warnings/critiques. We share similar taste and e-mail when we’ve been book shopping to stop the other from duplicate buying. I also go to my local library at least once every 2 weeks. I’ve been making a super-serious effort to cut down on book-buying and it seems to be working.

There’s a lot of stuff online, for free. Try Bartleby.com, for starters, and Daniel Pinkwater has one of his manic YA comic oddities serialized online for free at: http://www.theyggyssey.com/

Yay Books!

Yay FREE BOOKS!

If push comes to shove, my office has a book exchange thing going. Most of the stuff is pretty dry (lots of non-fiction, which I typically don’t bother reading) but someone, not me, has a serious Jaid Black addiction. Which, for some obscure reason, amuses me.

Another option for limited budgets is places like Project Gutenberg.  The books may be old, but you can’t beat the price, when it’s free.  http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

I use the library a lot!!  I have a much loved independent UBS that I love also.

Oh, and Paperbackswap.com. LURVE that place!

I always sign up for any contest that gives away free books. And I use my sister-in-law’s B&N;discount every time I go in. Plus, they usually screw up the coupons and end up giving me a little bit better discount than expected. Oftentimes I get an extra 5-10% off because they combine the coupon and book club membership incorrectly. I do have an addiction and spend about $75-100/month for books (even after discounts). I haven’t cut back yet but may have to soon if prices keep rising.

I’m a big fan of passing on books I’ve read. Sure, I have a keeper shelf. But I pass on a ton of books too. Also, many, many consignment shops, the Salvation Army, Goodwill have books for next to nothing. I’ve found some real gems there.

And then, there’s when Sarah gives away books.

I’ve had good luck with thrift stores such as the Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc., especially if it’s a wealthier community that has readers of new releases who donate their castoffs. Or you’ll find people who got sick of looking at their backlist of a particular author and just donated them all. In short, you’ll find some great deals, and some stores only charge a quarter for paperbacks. Sweet!

Clearly, I’d prefer readers to buy new whenever possible--because then I get money from royalties and I can spend it on lovely books.  What goes around comes around, see: boosting the economy, one book at a time.  But yeah, sometimes--just sometimes--other things take precedence on the budget.  Boring stuff like food.  Cheap books are, regrettably, necessary.

You forgot option #4 for when fuel is expensive (and oh my golly gosh, isn’t it!). Let someone else do the driving. Save the money you’d spend on driving to your local bookstore and order your books online: someone will deliver them to you!

I don’t think I’ve bought a single book from Amazon at retail price--whereas most of the brick-and-mortar shops I go to (some chains, some indies) pretty much just sell for the cover price, especially on paperbacks.  Also, you can shop around on Kelkoo or whatever and see who has offers on.

Plus, Amazon has its affiliates program for earning credit to spend there.

Oh, and since we were talking about His Stigness the other day, I thought I’d share JC’s intro for the first ep. of the new series.  “Some say that after making love, he bites the head off his partner, and that he’s had to give up binge-drinking now it’s £1.18 a litre.  All we know is, he’s called The Stig.”

Denise, I’m right there with you. I have two sins: shoes and books, with books wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy outbuying shoes. I probably spend more than $200/month on books; how much more I do not want to contemplate. Along with the other suggestions (reward memberships, yard sales, library, paperbookswap), Thrift stores likes St. Vincent De Paul and Salvation Army have been a bibliowetdream for me. Not in PA though; MN and MT specifically. But boy-howdy, did I score.

I do have a goal to cut down on book buying (sorry authors-oh how I love to support thee..), and so am going to attempt the bookswap online deal. I have a slew of copies and books I didn’t like that I would like to get rid of.

My hairdresser’s shop has a book exchange in a plastic bin by the door.  Take a book, leave a book.

Most libraries can exchange books with other libraries in the county. So if you live near a small library, you can still get lots of books using the interlibrary loan system.

I second paperbackswap.com!

I haven’t yet made any attempts to curb my book-spending habits. In fact, I just bought a whole stack from B&N;this weekend. Shame!

The library is my friend!  Both to rent and for their used sale.  It’s not just finances, it’s also shelf space.  I need more walls! 

I just cleaned out a whack of books and donated them to a) goodwill and b) to soldiers. God knows LK Hamilton lost me a while back, maybe someone needs a little purple prose overseas.  Let someone else experience the fun of throwing whichever book loses it for them against the wall.

And it’s not romance, but Shadow Unit is completely free (donate to the authors if you like it and can afford to, well worth it IMO) and extremely well-written suspense/ police procedural/ sci fi narrative.  Totally free, and they update a lot.

And my mom and sister and I all lend books back and forth.

I’m not sure how I screwed up that link, but Shadow Unit is at:

http://www.shadowunit.org

My way to save money on my books: my job! Okay, not a viable option for everyone to run out and get a job at an international book wholesaler, but damn, the discounts are good! 40% off any book or book on CD (besides college texty stuff) and 20% off any entertainment product (CD or DVD). On my last paycheck of the year, my total employee purchases was higher than the amount I pay for a year of dental insurance. Extra bonus: They give us $25-30 at Christmas time for product.

For OOP I hit up both Amazon.com used (well, I used to before the whole DAM/Reba Belle thing) or paperbackswap.com.

Libraries (both the university library and the piddly local one), the awesome used bookstore in town, and trading with friends: this is how I *try* to get books.

What do I usually wind up doing? Buying them new and skipping some other luxury I might want. Like going to the movies or out to dinner. I’m greedy and like to own my books.

For one thing, my local public library is not great. I once described it to someone by saying, “They have about 5 books, and I’ve read them all.” Furthermore, they’re slow. I got so sick of waiting for The Unsung Hero that I bought it off of Amazon.

Thrift stores are great. Books are cheap as chips-- actually, a lot cheaper.

Also keep an eye on library sales-- they usually cough up all sorts of interesting things (snagged me a copy of the rather good Field Guide to Produce for $3 (it was a “premium” book so they charged a little more) and the money’s going to a good cause.

So nice to see someone EXPLAIN the Zebra Deb program. I’ve actually seen reviews of my books that start out “With a price like this I figured the book couldn’t be any good, but OMG it is!” or “I can’t understand why the publisher wouldn’t stand behind this book and market it at the regular price.” Lots of readers don’t seem to *know* that it’s a special program.

I’m both a book junkie and an independent bookstore junkie, so I still buy my books at the same little store I always have (I just drive a lot less!).

Also, regarding libraries: check to see if they can get books from other branches for you, or what if any fees are levied on interlibrary loans. It’s certainly not instant gratification, but I’ve usually had requests filled within a couple of days.

someone, not me, has a serious Jaid Black addiction

I don’t know that I’d want to know this much about most of my coworkers.

Now that I’m not working as a consultant (SAHM--WAY less money but the company is better), I’ve been using the public library a lot.  The Chicago public library system just got on the technological bandwagon and you may now reserve and renew books online.  It’s such a large library system that there are lots of possibilities.  And they will deliver the books (surprisingly quickly) to your local branch.  My new challenge is keeping my hold list stocked so I keep getting books delivered.  You can also download ebooks really easily.

That said?  I still buy a lot of paper books.  As habits go, it’s better than crack.

I love BookMooch.com--it’s a good place to trade for out-of-print category romances.

I save considerable money on gas by not having a car.  But that is feasible because I live in the city.  Books are probably my highest monthly expense after rent and food, and sometimes more than food, depending on how good I’ve been about cooking for myself.

Friends with the same taste in books are a great thing. They can give you their tall-Highlander-books and you can give them your Viking-chieftain books, and it’s a win-win. Plus you can discuss them after you’ve read them. Funny enough, I found out that university libraries hoard all kinds of books, romance being one of them (ours does).

I’m using my library much more than I used to. We have the online reserve/renewal option and in fact that’s how I got to read Phyllida and the Brotherhood of Philander. I checked a few weeks ago and they already had it on order, so hey, presto!

What I hate about the library are trying to read series books. I get sort of anal about reading books in order and of course you never get them that way at the library unless you have infinite patience, which I do not. So I still spend too much money at B&N;.

But for me, the B&N;member discount is so worth it. I save far, far more than $25 a year. I get coupons all the freaking time and somehow they’ve managed to get me signed up on two different email accounts, so I get TWO coupons every time they send one out, and they both work!

Further, you can use your discount to buy a slice of Cheesecake factory double godiva chocolate cheesecake. What more can I say.

dude, my library has an exchange program.  they had so many at one point the librarian was telling me to ‘take as many as you can carry!’ it was fantastic-- new, returnable books and possible, ever-rotating possible keepers?  HOT DAMN.

and then i moved to dc, went to school, am poor, and am subject to the dc library system, which while good, does not have paperback swap on location.  nooooooooooooo.

please, the free pretties, i can has them?

I’m part of the Border’s Rewards, and I love it - coupons every week, plus you get “Border’s Bucks” every so often, depending on how much you spend in the previous months. It’s usually enough to buy a paperback. Also, Borders is the only place around here that I can consistantly find Bitch magazine, and it has a pretty good selection of knitting mags :).

Put me in the thrift store group.  I love it when someone turns in their whole series (like the Bridgertons), because I, too, will give up a whole series and regret it, then buy it all back.  As I get older, I know I have read books and enjoyed them, but I can’t remember them anymore so, hey, it is new to me, AGAIN.

Also, my husband teaches at both a public university and a private university so I have access to every book in every library in every public or private college/university in the state as well as every public county library.
Of course, the downside is he cringes mightily at having his name associated with some of the titles he has to bring home.  Oh, well, marriage is a compromise!!

My book club exchanges books.  A couple of times a year, each person brings a bag of books to the meeting.  We go through each others books.  It’s fun because we are talking about our favorite subjects and we discover new authors or series.

If you live in or near the Baltimore area, there are tons of used book stores, but the very best is The Book Thing of Baltimore. Why? Well because all the books are free of course. They will also let you take as many books as you want. We discovered it when we moved and were looking for a place to drop off all the books we didn’t want. They won’t pay you for your books, but they love donations and you never know what you’ll find when you go in.

My bibliophilic friends don’t have quite the selection as the library, but they don’t charge late fees.

The library is my friend, especially when I’m unfamiliar with an author and want to sample her work before spending money. I can go on-line and have a book delivered to my local branch and get an email when it is ready.

Getting books in the mail is always a good thing and I do belong to the Border’s club. I get coupons every week - way more than I actually use. Heck - I currently have a $100 gift card for B&N;but it’s twice as far as the closest Border’s so I haven’t used it.

My hubby’s secretary also sends along her used books - she reads everything. I pass most of them along to the ladies at the American Legion and the VA hospital.

Cat - I really try to buy books from writers that I know I enjoy, even if I pass the books along later to those on fixed incomes and the hospital. Ya’ll’s paycheck depends on *us* buying your books.  Oh - and I always grin when I notice that the library orders more books for a new release title because the demand is greater than anticipated.

I’m lucky - so far. Gas is below the national average here but still not cheap. Does it say how old I am when I say I can remember when gas was 25 CENTS a gallon?

A girlfriend and I go shopping together. Armed with coupons, discount cards, etc. we decide what we both want to read. We spend half, we have fun discussing (sometimes arguing) about what looks good, and usually end the afternoon with tea and something chocolate. Books, therapy, chocolate—a bargain!

Also organized a charity booksale at work. Everybody brings in their books for sale. We sell them at 50 cents paperback, dollar hardback. Money goes to charity and everybody loves hunting through the books!

I use a combination of many of these methods.  I’m a Borders Rewards member, and I drive past Borders regularly in my regular routine of job and kids.  Almost every time I use a coupon they give me another one, so I never buy more than one book at a time—just come back in a few days for the other one, with the new coupon.

I use our library a lot, and I’ve gotten more patient about waiting for the next book in a series.  It’s actually good for me, because it makes a good series last longer!  I love our online reservation system, and the fact that our county library has fast transfer service between its branches.  I also LOVE our Friends of the Library UBS (located right in the library lobby) and their semi-annual book sale.  Great place to find romance novels, and I can take chances on unfamiliar authors because they are dirt cheap.

I also use half.com (part of ebay) to buy back lists and OOP titles of authors I was late in discovering.  My kids and partner keep suggesting that I should then sell the books again when I’m done with them; I haven’t been able to do that yet, but I’m working on it.  Out of shelf space at home, so I’ve got to do something!

The free e-books from publishers lately have made me go “squeee!” I like to get free stuff....

I’m giving away some free books to today to random commenters over at http://nenscl.blogspot.com.

If you’d like to win a free copy of SHE or EROS ISLAND, leave a comment!

(And I certainly wouldn’t mind winning free books myself! Especially books I didn’t write!)

My library does not charge late fees either. None. Nada. Ever. As in, I lost a book in my van (which you’d understand if you saw the interior of my van) for over a year. I found it. Returned it. No late fee.

Our library is perhaps the ugliest library in the world*, but the services are cool.

*Designed by committee. Who else would pair orange and red striped carpet with grape and lime green polka-dot carpet. ..

A friend is, apparently, the local clearing house for swapping romance novels.  There’s one that has been passed around my entire posse of friends and is known only as “The Shower Scene Book” (I forget what it’s called, the plot is that a Greek demigod has been trapped inside a book for thousands of years and is only allowed out to pleasure women). 

I’m also quite happy to have started a new job next door to the local library.  Hooray for free books, because they really are a necessity of life!

I’m guess I’m lucky. I actually work in a library. So, I get the advantage of combining my work commute with a trip to the stacks for some free books;)

My local library has limited romance, so thats doesn’t really work for me. :( Got to say that used book stores are AMAZING - I just love finding great new authors that I would never have paid full price for.  And used marketplace on amazon is pretty good, too.

Used book stores, check.
Garage and yard sales, check.
Library, not too often--and their selection of romance sucks. On the other hand, they have a “Friends of the Library” used book store in the basement so… check.

I swap books with a friend--and we try to split the bill when we go together to the store. This is not ideal, as I tend to keep most of the books I read (yes, I know, they’re gonna eat me one day), but what can you do?

I’ve gotten books on authors’ and readers’ blogs giveaways/contests, which rock hard. The only problem? I’ve gotten addicted to new authors :sad:

My local grocery store has a table in the front of the store where you can buy a used book for $1 and the proceeds go towards The Jimmy Fund. I’ve found quite a few wonderful books there (as well as a couple of stinkers, but I can’t complain for $1).

And, if I get really desperate, I just go see my mom. She seems to get books from the strangest places that she only reads once and then tosses onto a shelf to be forgotten about.

I know it’s already been mentioned, but paperbackswap.com is really awesome. It’s this book swap that lets you post books you no longer want and each book that is requested from you earns you a point that can be used to get a book you want. It’s free to join & you only pay 4 mailing a book requested from you. I’ve mailed random books that I didn’t think ANYBODY would want but lo & behold i was able to get rid of Song of the Turtle .

I’m all over the free/cheap book scene in every place I’ve ever lived, and now I will share my excessive knowledge with the world. I apologize in advance for the length of this comment.

Here in England, I live in walking distance of the main library branch, and there is no limit on the number of holds I can place at a time, so library fairies bring my books to my branch with just a few clicks of the button on the library’s interweb page. As soon as I start a series, I’ll request all the books in the series so they are at my fingertips the moment I want them. It also allows me to get books for school, when all the uni library copies are on loan to my classmates. I picked up that trick as an undergrad.

My hometown library system is fantastic about ferrying books to the branch within easy walking distance of my house (again with the walking v. driving element of book acquiring). The only problem is that there is a limit of 5 holds at a time. You can however reserve and check out ebooks online and download straight onto your computer or other compatible device through their website. They also have a free book exchange program and a used bookstore in my branch. I’m notorious at the library for the number of books I have out at a time (my record is over 70 at one time), and with me moving back there in a week, I’ve already got holds placed so books will be waiting the day I get home.

Elsewhere in town, there is a little hole-in-the-wall gem called the Paperback Exchange (or PBX as I like to call it). I can take in the non-keepers I have and they turn into credit toward the books other people have brought in. They have the most complete back catalog of category romances I’ve ever seen in real life.

I also scour thrift stores. Whenever anyone suggests going to one, I’m there for the ride, and can be found scouring the shelves with lots of focus. Oshkosh, WI has some of the best thrift store romance options I’ve encountered. In Spokane, WA, I found a treasure trove of the Sweet Dreams romances I still collect.

Finally, I used to work at a big box bookstore, and as a result got an employee discount, as well as the ability to ‘check out’ books from the store, similar to the way the library does, but with a very strong ‘you break it, you buy it’ policy.

With all this, I still manage to buy books full-price, but I’m able to resist that urge most of the time.

JennyOH, that’s Sherrilyn Kenyon you mentioned. I believe it’s Fantasy Lover, which I believe is the first is her entire series.

I also meant to give SB Sarah props for the Erasmus quote title. Well done.

If I could move into my library I would. And NJ has the lowest gas taxes in the nation.
If it comes down to it, I will ride my bike to the bookstore!

I practically live in used bookstores- there’s one very nearby I visit weekly, one a bit farther away that I vist a few times a month, and one on my boyfriend’s side of town that I visit whenever I get the chance. My local libraries also have REALLY good used book sections thanks to Friends of the Library, I’ve found gems like the first 4 Kim Harrison books in perfect condition for a quarter each, Agnus and the Hitman for $1 and way too many more to count. I don’t really checkout books too much unless it’s a new release I’m dying to read but can’t drop the money on- the last one was Blue-Eyed Devil by Lisa Kleypas.

I also use Paperbackswap a LOT, though with rising postage costs I may have to start using it a bit less. Still, you can get great books that way- especially if someone is running a deal on their bookshelf.

My security word is learned83- I was born in ‘83 and I totally learn things at my local library! *Cheesy thumbs up*

I gotta say that Philly and surrounding suburbs is pretty stinky for used bookstores. I think the small business tax here is really high and bookstores have low profit margins anyway so....But MN and MT have been great successes for me.

I’ve just recently discovered that fictionwise (the ebook retailer) gives some pretty decent discounts on various romances. Of course their 50% discount on Nora Robert’s The Hollow started the week AFTER I bought it at full price, but what ya gonna do?

I also shop the UBS but mine usually doesn’t have that great a selection of recent releases. But for glomming backlists, it’s wonderful!

To my husband’s regret it seems even the rising prices will not cure my book buying habit.  I justify spending crap loads of money at bookstores by saying I’m helping the economy.  If I keep spending it will eventually turn around!  Lol.  Books are too important to me to cut them out.  I’ll budget around them.  I buy from used bookstores when I’m in the area (I live in a small town in AZ 70 miles from the nearest U.B.S.) but most often I just buy from whatever bookstore has the book I want without having to special order it.  Books are like crack to me.  My husband really doesn’t mind, it helps offset his guilt about buying insanely priced Jeep stuff.

I use the library- I always have 25 books checked out at a time.

I also buy used on Ebay and Amazon.

But there is never enough money to buy all the books I want.

Jill

This past year, with a new baby, buying books has fallen to the bottom of the Need list. I hit up library book sales, and ask for Borders, Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift certs for gifts instead of money (which is usually spent on things we need rather than things I want). Plus it does away with any guilt for spending money on yourself, since it’s a GC.

Chapters up here in Canada do the frequent buyer card.  If you renew before it expires, it is $25/yr.  They also give discounts to teachers and military members.

The hospital has carts on certain floors where paperbacks are 50 cents and hardbacks $1, proceeds to the Ladies Aux.

Our local grocery chain accepts donations of used books and has a sale twice a year with proceeds to the Childrens hospitals.

So, walk to the grocery store and buy a book.

Program88, hmm, programme is spelt wrong.

When I think of all the money I could have saved with a B & N card over the years, I smite my forehead. “It’s never too late!” I always think, each time I hand over my new books to the cashier and she asks if I have the card, and each time I shake my head and say, “Maybe next time.” The $25 (per year?) trips me up each and every time.

Willa, I saved $173 w/ my B&N;card in the last 12 months… ;)

Other than half.com, I also share with my co-worker.  She buys some, I buy some. Then we take them to the public library where they sell them at a year round sale, which is a great place to get more.  $1 for a book or less anyone???

I’m a recent college grad, so for me money is ALWAYS tight. What do I do? Library (luckily I belong to both the city system and the county system here...), used book stores, reading in Border’s when I have a chunk of free time, and borrowing books from my literarily-inclined friends (who borrow from me, so it works out).

The library system here rocks - maybe it has to do with the fact that the city semi-recently combined their system with the local state college’s system?

Oh, how could I have been so dumb to forget: my local library system always has a sale going on: $.50 for paperpacks, $1 for hardbacks. Hard to find a better price than that!

I read sci/fi as well as romance (and countless other genres), so I loves me some Baen Free Library http://www.baen.com/library

I always can scrape together some money for books.  In elementary, middle school and high school it was lunch money, college it was loan money, now its deodorant money. (Just kidding on the deodorant, no really!)

and its a race68 to comment for free books!

*drops name in hat*

Good advice, SB Sarah.

Now if only my local library would reel in all those damn overdue books folks have out that I want to read AND get more options in. But the real bonus is they are literally a minute down la street from my office. Cha-chiiing. You’ve inspired me. I’ll give the place another chance.

Used bookstores, surprisingly enough are harder to come by in my area. I know of only one now and the one I used to haunt like Casper the friendly is no more. Besides, it was all the way at the other end of town. No Cha-ching.

And I love Zebra’s debut program! Yeah, those prices seemed to SCREAM at me, right off the dang shelves, years ago when they first started doing it. Hard not to notice that bit of drool-inducing incentive.

Is it unsporting and horrible of me to say I subscribe to Paperspine?  I love them.  Great service, good TAT, great selection, and it’s SO EASY!  My public LIbrary sucks: too remote to visit regularly and NO selection.  I read much too fast to buy books, and I don’t have room for them all, anyway.

Right now I’m paying about $14/month for the service, and I have enough to read during my busy summer months.  Before I moved, I was paying $25/month and reading much more voraciously, about 6 books/week.

Spamword: sense16...and it DOES make sense for me!

By now I buy nearly all of my fun books at Fictionwise—not only do they have great offers, but I can also pay in US Dollars. And with the current exchange rate, I’m in bookbuyer’s heaven! :-)

For the record, Borders now gives 40% off hardback bestsellers to Borders Rewards members.  It’s a free program to join, and the coupons are aplenty.  Yes I work there, and I plug it, but seriously, the discounts are pretty fantastic for no overhead.

Being from the UK, books, like most other thing, are way more expensive than in the US, so I tend to rely on my local library for free books. Used books stores are great for discovering authors/books new to me, though it’s a shame there aren’t more of them near me - I’d love to be near a shop like the Book Thing in Baltimore, it’d probably become my second home.

As an author, I haunt used bookstores. I buy backlists that I can’t find elsewhere. Sometimes, I’m more willing to pay for a used paperback of someone I don’t know and then go buy their other stuff “hot off the press” etc.

I book share a lot with friends as well.

Lately the only books I’m buying are those in e-format. Rocki St. Claire’s latest will be downloaded tonight. I love her stuff.

Keep an eye on Zebra Debut authors (I’m one!) because I believe their second book is only a dollar more than the first one: $4.99.

Amazon.com also has a 4-for-3 promotion. Look for the green dollar sign and “Special offers available” text just below a book’s price, or go hereto browse through qualifying stuff.

I am at a low ebb with reading lately and I’ve been able to get by on the Baen and Tor free ebooks.  I used to have the flexibility in my schedule to scour UBSs and thrifts, but not right now, alas.  Luckily I also have a TBR… Well, it’s not a stack and it’s not a pile, it’s more a like an attic, after years of buying more than I had time to read.

I donate my used paperbacks to a local retirement home or my mom’s library instead of swapping them for credit at the UBS.

I live in a small rural community here in Texas and not only is our library very small, but used book stores are almost non-existant.  I do try to use the library for a ‘new to me’ author.  Otherwise I haunt resale shops, flea markets and yard sales.

I find since the price of everything is going up, that I don’t try new authors as much.  I have an amount budgeted for books and sometimes it’s difficult to make it stretch to cover new releases by authors I love. 

Here lately I’ve been purchasing most of my books through Fictionwise.  Or picking them up when I’m at Wal-Mart of the grocery store.

Please add my name to the hat.

I forgot to say that the Amazon.com 4-for-3 program still got me the free shipping when I used it. They count the original prices of the book toward that.

Don’t forget http://www.abebooks.com! An online clearing house for independent used book stores all over the world.

I’m another hard-core library person. In addition to online reserving and ordering from other libraries throughout the state, I can request the library to buy books. I’ve never yet been turned down.

I’m always on the lookout for library sales. The last 3 hours of my library’s annual sale offers $5 for a whole paper grocery bag of books. I try out so many new authors that way. Once, when driving home from an out-of-town meeting, I encountered a library sale that only charged $3 for a bag of books! Oh the joy!

I agree with #1,
I have recently rediscovered the joy of the library. The extra sweetner is there is a branch on my way home from work. I live in a really large sprawled out city and on the outskirts, so gas saving is a must for me. Also I have been turned on to the paperbackswap website. I am pretty new there so I will wait to see how good it is.

Pick Me, Pick Me, Pick Me!!! Please, pretty please!!!! As for feeding my book addiction I use my library, and employee discount for books. I use Amazon for hardbacks-free shipping, no tax, and at least a 34% discount on new books.

I use the library- I always have 25 books checked out at a time.

I crashed my library’s online system because I DARED to try putting a one-hundred-FIRST book in my hold queue.

Silly, silly software developers… Now if they’d only accept my usability enhancement request to sort the damn list by author name/publication date, and not just book title.  Grr.

I’m another PaperBackSwap lover. You know all those HABO posts? Most of those oldies but goodies(?) can be found at PBS, and if not, you can put them on your wish list and be notified when they are available. I also like the fact that you can turn used books into used CDs and DVDs or vice versa through their sister sites.

Another money saver is Edward R. Hamilton at http://www.edwardrhamilton.com. You have to pay by check through the mail, which feels a little old fashioned nowadays, but I’ve gotten some really good prices on non-fiction, especially cookbooks, from them.

Another big paperbackswap fan here. Especially the book bazaar, where you can get awesome deals.

let me be the gajillionth person to recomend http://www.paperbackswap. I love love love it and get so many really nice, practically new books all for the price of media mail (usually about $2.13 per book)

Books are not a luxury in this house but a necessity.

When we were too poor to buy books I would haunt the UBS, yard sales and church sales for books. Occasionally I would splurge and buy a new paperback at Target, Wal-Mart or the grocery store.

Mostly though I checked them out from the library cause the Tucson Public Library rocked! Now I live in a podunk town in Oklahoma that has one itty bitty library that has nothing unless your taste runs towards inpirational reading (and not even inspy romance but straight mainstream-blecch!). Now I do buy new books and generally order them from the Waldenbooks in the mall. I have them shipped to my house cause the shipping is free. It works because I don’t have as much free time to read thanks to my pursual of a higher education so I don’t buy as many books anyway.

I lurve the thrift store for used books.  They tend to be cheaper than the UBS (another serious addiction), and the books are often much more obscure.  And, oh yes, the snarktastic covers!

But the best place for me is our local nature center.  They sell donated paperbacks for a quarter, and hardcovers for 50 cents.  The sign says, “the ultimate in recycling,” and the hubby and I come out with bags every time.  It’s hard for a book to not be worth 25 cents.

love love love BookMooch.com and PaperBackSwap.com ... they are a “lifesaver” for someone on a limited budget!

I’m a library whore, but then I am a librarian by day ;) My problem is I don’t have time to read everything I get through interlibrary loan. 

Okay, minor soapbox moment.  If you like your local public library, and if they provide interlibrary loan with other libraries, find out that service is funded.  The delivery costs associated with interlibrary loan are also going up due to gas costs, and I know of a few libraries who are cutting back on this service because they can no longer afford it.  If your library’s feeling the pinch, advocate with whoever the main funding body is, local, maybe state legislators, and encourage them to continue, if not increase, library funding.

When I see one of my high school students with interesting books on their desks, I’ll often lend them an old favorite for a chance to read theirs.  Not only do I get a chance to read a new and potentially interesting book, but I also get to “enlighten” that student with some seriously excellent books.  Recently, I turned two of my romance-reading seniors into fans of PC Cast and Lynn Kurland.

I haven’t read all of the comments yet and I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned them yet, but I love me some library book sales.  I used to live in Peoria, and the library there would have a book sale at least once a year, plus book sale rooms/racks in the various branches.  Also, Bradley University’s library would have a book sale once a year, and a local museum had a book court...glee.  Generally the prices were really cheap.

When I was first reading fantasy and sci-fi, I borrowed a lot of books from a friend who had a *huge* library.

baen free books… and bookmooch.com.

I’m afraid the rising prices of gas and everything else has not made a dent in how much I spend on books. I’ll just eat one less meal a day or something before I cut back! It’s not like I made a ton of money as a library tech, but it makes a difference that I have nobody else to worry about except an old grumpy cat. I have been making less trips to the big bookstores since they are an hour out of town for me, but then I just buy more books when I am at one of them thinking “Better stock up! I can’t get over here as much now.” I have been buying more of my paperbacks at Walmart lately despite the fact that I hate going in there-it’s the only thing my town has so of course when you go everyone and their brother is there.  I wish there was a used bookstore somewhere around here, but there isn’t.

I second you on that, Kelly (fellow librarian here).  Also, here’s an insider tip: libraries frequently get boxes of romance novels from patrons cleaning out their attics/basements/whatever.  If your library’s small and your librarians know your reading habits well enough, you may just be able to get first crack at them before they go in the sale.  I’ve sold hundreds of romances for the library this way.

I forgot to mention two good ways of getting cheap/free books.  Library sales are excellent (and cheap!).  I went to one once on the last day of the sale, and got three flats of romance novels for a dollar each.  I didn’t have time to pick through for good ones, and got sick of reading them eventually, but they provided my roomate and me with six weeks of reading fun.

And, if you are not weirded out by this method, try dumpster diving.  I once went with some cousins to the Half Price Books dumpster, and came out with a couple gems.  I haven’t tried it since, but if they’re just going to throw books away, you might as well “rescue” them.

Aside from the books that I win online, I buy my books. I live in a rural area. The local library has really limited hours. The fantastic Jackson Hole library will lend books to residents of the adjoining county in a different state. I live 20 minutes away in Idaho.  How great is that? But I don’t utilize it enough.  I spend a lot of money on books.  I try to buy the most of my books at the local bookstore so I don’t get much in discounts. But a local bookstore is such a community asset. I also love amazon. When I get to Idaho Falls which is 90 miles away, I cannot resist Barnes and Noble.

I love used bookstores, but there aren’t any great used bookstores locally.

Yeah, I need to rein in my book spending. Last month, I bought two copies of three different novels. Got a little too eager and forgot that I preorder from Amazon.

You want random? I got so ticked off (mild word) a couple of weeks ago when I filled up my small SUV at $75, I said screw (mild word) them. So I’m trading in my BMW for a Toyota Prius that’s a hybrid and gets 45-50 miles mpg. My SUV gets 15 miles to the gallon. I’m not even driving anywhere extra anymore because I don’t want to fill someone else’s pockets. I used to write in bookstore cafes and coffee shops. I’m waiting ‘til I get the Prius though, which is backordered for 3 months…

It’s going to be hard to get used to because I hate feeling like my butt’s dragging on the ground driving a car. I’m used to being up high, first in the minivans with the kids when they were little, and then small SUVs. But it’ll be worth it and is my way of saying a very loud (insert definitely not mild curse word) you to those who are jacking up those prices.

$75 to fill a tank. BS.

As far as buying books (back on topic), I’ll still buy new to support my fellow authors. But I used to buy used books and checked out books from the library when I couldn’t afford new, so I believe in used bookstores and libraries.

BTW--I give away--wow, really?--10 new books a month between my newsletter and chat loop and WS. And 2 a month are from a featured writer for my readers to check out.

Wow, really, 10? I just added that up. Am I insane? ;-)

Just an aside--I’m sitting her with incredibly painful pageproofs (long story), drinking wine with no food in my stomach, and doing everything possible to avoid reading the the pageproofs. Okay. Bye-bye for now.

I think I’m going to get some cheese for my wine and my whine.

I buy books at the grocery store of all places.  They actually have a lot of the new releases mentioned here.  I will usually hit the book section last (it’s by the checkout), and if it looks like I’m going to go over budget, I’ll put back a box of cookies or something, then call the book “groceries.” Good for my waistline, too!

I have a free NetLibrary account through the university where I am a student. I can check out and download up to 10 books at a time for 21 days.  There is not as much variety as I would like but still...free audiobooks is a hell of a lot better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick!  AND they are all unabridged!  Abridgement is the tool of the devil. 

During the summer I consume more than 10 books every three weeks.  The way it is set up at my school all you really have to do is register at one of the kiosks in the library. That means anyone in the community (even non-students) can do it and anyone can have more than one acount.  I have two.

I used to go to the library all the time, especially when my ex and I were stationed overseas because the book selection at the BX was limited and expensive.  I find I don’t go nearly as often now, even with higher prices for everything because 1) I’m not quite as broke as I was then; and 2) I want the option of keeping them. 

I often go to Half-Price Books and I spend way more than I’d admit to on Amazon.  I also buy at the local grocery store (Kroger’s--all books are 20-25% off) and at Walmart.

Now if I could just add “I win them” to my list of dollar-saving ways…

I use paperbackswap.com and I have also been trading books through the mail with many of my fellow romance blogging buddies.  It’s like round robin.  One person will ship a series (say the Kresley Cole books) to another and when she finishes them, she passes them along to yet another.  yay for books and virtual friends!

spam foiler: longer58.  No I’m afraid books are not getting any longer, just more expensive.

I have the discount cards with both Borders and Barnes & Noble.  I buy more than enough books to make the $25 worthwhile.  Plus, when I get the 15% coupons, in addition to my (at least) 10% discount, SCORE!  I was able to get the most recent Anita Blake hardcover for around $11, I think.

I can’t tell you how much I miss Half Price Books.  They’re on my must-visit list everytime I go home to Texas. 
As a graduate student who won’t get another stipend check until September and who is trying to pay her rent with a cobbled-together series of odd-jobs and internships, buying books is pretty low on my priority list until the fall.  I do have a Barnes and Noble card—between books that I might need for class, things I read for fun, and presents for family and friends I feel like I get my money’s worth.  I’d get a Border’s card too, but there isn’t one that’s convenient to visit at the moment. 
Since I can’t buy any books until the fall, my salvation right now is my University’s library.  They don’t have much in the way of current romance (or current popular fiction at all), so I’m working my way through classic English murder mysteries instead and am loving every minute of it.

Teachers: Borders and Barnes and Noble and MOST book sellers will give you a 20% discount.  And they will look away if you happen to slide the latest Loretta Chase in your pile.

Libraries: If yours SUCKS, like mine who refuses to ever buy a book I want, try another count over.  I know many a library is willing to mail you your books.  Granted to get your card you have to be living in the area but that can easily be taken care of with one quick bill sent to a friend in another county.

Used Book Stores: GODSEND.  My local took about 200 books off my hands (yes… I had too many… what’s your point??!?????!?!?!?!?!) and gave me credit.  I can now walk in and check how much I have left, snag what I want and walk out again, if I return the book they just re-credit me.

Books for Troops: I know we were talking buying but I like touting this like crazy.  Used books, GOOD BOOKS (they get so tired of bodice rippers), fantasy/sci-fi/historical fiction anything to get their minds out of where they are for a moment and on some good escapism.  You can even get a tax write off!  How can you go wrong with that?!?!  You can’t!

I also make a list of the ones I TOTALLY want and wait wait wait for the coupons to come out.

If by the ‘rest of the world,’ you mean Europe, I guess so. But now their gas is even higher!

In some countries it is still cheaper than in the U.S. Mexico, for example, has cheaper gas. Quite a bit cheaper. China is subsidizing the price of gas, so it is super-duper cheapo there.

I never think it is fair to compare apples to oranges. England, France, Italy, etc. are so much smaller in comparison to the U.S. We have HUGE amounts of open space. Building public transportation in most of the U.S. makes no sense, as the number of people wouldn’t justify the expense.

However, in urban areas there is no excuse for not building more public transportation...better bus systems, light rail, subway, what have you. But for about 80% of the United States, this won’t help matters.

Sorry this wasn’t on topic...but I’m tired of the U.S. being portrayed as the bad guys when it comes to oil or gas. We aren’t to blame for what is going on right now. EVERY country relies on oil and gas to run its infrastructure, deliver products, make products.

I have the B&N;member card plus the credit card and the $25 does pay itself off with savings. The credit card racks up points when you use it with purchases outside b&n;and I just received a $25 gift card from my collected points.  Even with just the membership, I save more than $25 a year. I also believe B&N;may have a special member deal for teachers.  Maybe free membership or a more than the standard 10% off- I’m not exactly sure about that as I am not a teacher, but my sister mentioned it 2 me.

I listen to a lot of audiobooks, most of which I get from the library. I also have an