Meme-ful Musings: At the end of the month I’ll post a book-related meme that I think brings up an interesting discussion about books. Feel free to join in by making a comment below or linking back!
(Meme from: troll.me)
Like most readers out there, I have a compulsion to buy books. I made a decision about 3 years ago to stop buying physical books because I was running out of space to put them all and because I was moving around a lot for school, it was just easier to use the library for my reading fix (instead of packing up all my books every few months when I moved). But then, I bought my first Kobo Touch (RIP good friend) and discovered three great things about eBooks:
- They are cheaper than physical books!
- There are a ton of free books available, especially classic novels!
- They don’t take up any physical space!!!!!!!!
That last point is key–now I could store all the books I wanted in a cloud or my hand held device. No more bending bookshelves or squeezing books together to get them to fit. Now I could buy as many books as a I wanted without worrying about the space!
Which has its downfall because I find that I now buy more books than I could possibly read because of book sales/promo codes and FREEBIES.
I always look for a bargain in anything that I purchase. I refuse to buy things at full price. I always wait for a sale or a some sort of discount to buy things. So it isn’t a surprise I do that with my reading habit. (Check out my tips for cheaper reading on my “Reading on a Dime” page). That’s why I subscribe to multiple eBook sale mailing lists that tell me the new books on sale or, even better, what books are now free.
Which is the inspiration for this musing. Nothing is better than browsing a list of freebie books and finding that a book you have wanted to read for a long time is now FREE! I get such great satisfaction when I can change the list status on my GoodReads account for a book that I was currently searching for to one that says it is now on my eBookshelf.
I feel the same way when books go on sale though it is a little more subdued. Kobo (as well as Amazon/Kindle but because I have a Kobo I buy more books from them) is great at having sales every so often on the more expensive books that can’t have promo codes applied to them. For example, I was able to pick up some books from the Lunar Chronicles (which typically retail for $10+ eCopy) for less than $4 which is pretty great! Even though I could easily take these books out of the library (after waiting for a long time on the hold list), it’s hard for the bargain hunter in me to turn down a great offer. Especially on books that I know I am going to love and will probably want to reread. I have also bought eCopies of books I have read before and loved when they are on sale (ex. The Princess Bride was on sale once for $1–HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY REFUSE!?).
In the end, the point of this musing is to simply say how awesome things are when they go on sale but how much better they are when they are free 😉
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So, are you a bargain book hunter? Do you troll eBook merchant sites for freebies on a regular basis? Where are the best places to get cheaper reads?
Let me know by leaving a comment below!