A Bookish Life In AK

My husband teases me because I cannot pass up a free book.I grew up living on a budget. My parents worked so hard to make sure we had had everything we wanted and needed. But I was also taught to be frugal and save where I could. One way I could save money was my books. I can never pass up free books, or as close to free as possible. So this post is dedicated to where I shop to get the most book for my buck.

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1. The Library- Of course I’m going to recommend your local library. Where else can you get new releases to read for free! Our library has done away with late fees, thank goodness, so for slow readers, or distracted parents with kids that love the library as much their parents, this has been a huge savings. However if you don’t return it or lose the book, they will charge you to replace the book. In Alaska, we have an amazing system, if one library doesn’t have the book I need, they can check throughout the entire state and get it sent to me.A few times a year our local Library Association will have book sale where you can fill a bag for $5, I think last summerI spent $25 and got 40 books! I can also check out movies (kinda like Blockbuster), board games, and music cd’s. They also loan out dvd players, laptops and headphones, and newspapers magazines. The library here in Kodiak also has numerous apps for their patrons ranging from Alaska Digital Library and Hoopla (which I absolutely LOVE!) to Auto Repair Service and even HeritageHub, a family history search engine. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know the library had half of what is listed!
2. The Little Free Library- These are popping up everywhere. They run on a “Take One, Leave One” principle, however, if you don’t have too if you don’t have one to leave with you. I have seen these outside stores, in coffeeshops, on street corners and even in in a couple airports. To see where a Little Free Library near you, check out https://littlefreelibrary.org/map/
3. Project Gutenburg- Named after the inventor of the printing press, this website is an archive of books and articles that are Public Domain. Once books and such run out of copyright, they are released into public domain. Authors can admit their writing to the public domain any time. I’ve used Project Gutenberg when homeschooling and we needed an older text to do research with, and for finding old copies of children’s books.The Winnie the Pooh books are all on there now as well as A.A. Milne’s “The Red House Mystery.” https://www.gutenberg.org
4. Kindle, Nook and Apple Books- Believe it or not, I have found numerous classics for free on Kindle, Nook and Apple Books. You can also find some self-published works for free as well. Warning-you can also find some extremely questionable material, so if you’re a parent I’d be careful letting them have free reign on there. Kindle also has Kindle Unlimited that you can purchase. For $10 a month, you can download up to 10 books at a time per account. So if you are an avid reader, this can save you tons. Quite a few new authors put their books on Kindle Unlimited to get them into readers hands. Link for Kindle Paperwhite:https://amzn.to/46XAEJ8 Link for Barnes and Noble nook:https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/nook-glowlight-4-plus-barnes-noble/1143603294?ean=9780594155256
5. ARCs (Advanced Reader Copy)- This is really new to me and am still trying to figure out how I ended up on a few lists for receiving ARCs. If you look up different publishers and authors they sometimes have sign-ups for being part of their ‘Advance Crew” where you read the book, post about it on social media, and when it is released you do a review of it wherever it is sold. One site I visit regularly is https://promo.authorsxp.com/. I can pick and choose which books to read and review. They also have some great contests.
6. Thrift Stores and Used Book stores- Shop Local! You never know what you will find at a thrift store. And they are so inexpensive too. People are always moving and thrift stores will have a rotating supply for all different genres. want to try something by an author you’ve never read? Why spend a fortune on a new book, see if the thrift store has to for $1.

Audiobooks

I listen to audiobooks while I am at work, since I haven’t figured out how to work and read at the same time. 🙂 I have a couple apps I use for this.

1. Hoopla and Libby- Both of these I use free from my library. Again, go check out your local library!!! On Hoopla, I can download 7 downloads a month, with Libby, I believe, you can download 10 books. I switch between the two apps if one doesn’t have the book I’m looking for. You can download the apps from your library website.
2. Spotify- Yes you can listen to audiobooks on Spotify, I have listened to a few. They run similar to podcasts and sometimes there are ads before a chapter or two. This isn’t my favorite way to listen. Link for Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/
3. LibrioVox- Free public domain audiobooks and ebooks. Similar to Project Gutenberg, these are books that have been put into the public domain and have outlived their copyright. I have come across a few good ones, it all really depends on how you like your readers. https://librivox.org

These resources have helped us in the past when money was tight, and even more so when we homeschooled. I wish some of these were around when we homeschooled actually.

I hope this give a few ideas if you are on a budget. If I’ve missed any websites, share them in the comments.

Blessings and Prayers, Becky I have set the LORD always before me:
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:8

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