Renaissance Minds Bookblog

Let’s say the average book costs $15. Yeah, most paperbacks are cheaper (don’t even get me started on the “trade paperback” and the publishing industry’s sinister ploy to get people to pay $15 for a book that they would pay $7.99 for in standard paperback size!) but the average hardcover seems to be about $25-$30, or $20 on sale. So after much pondering, I unscientifically picked $15 as a random number that seems credible enough to be the “average” price of a book.

I read a total of 168 books in 2005.
So let’s do the math…
168 books x $15 = $2520
(Jeepers… makes $10 to go to a movie seem almost reasonable!)

So my inquisitive little brain absorbed around $2500 worth of information last year. (How much actually soaked in is irrelevant for this example! ) (Has anybody besides me noticed how fond I am of using parentheses? It’s like I can be right there, whispering my smart-aleck asides to you just like I would in person, except without talking over the stream of information! Cool.) Oooh that reminds me, note to self – write an article on how I PICK which books to read. I have a nifty little system for that, because while I do read some fiction, the majority of what I read is self-help or business related material. But how do I find the best stuff?! Remind me to write that article!

Soooo back to the stream of information now. I absorbed about $2500 worth of info in 2005 – but did I SPEND $2500 on reading material? I think not! For one thing – where would I store 168 more books? I generally only buy books that I’ve already read and want to keep, and write in, and refer to again and again. Or really cheap used books that I can read and pass on. My approximate book spending last year was about $250-$300. And um, that includes about $20 for library fees over the year for late books! (Hey, it’s still a cheap way to read a zillion books.)

So how can you get $2500 of education and entertainment for about 10% of that cost? Read on, my friend, and let me share my secrets with you.

1. Library – Yeah, yeah, we’ve all heard it, but do you know that something like only 10% of Americans have library cards?! For Pete’s sake, folks, you are sitting on a gold mine! I personally believe that libraries are our greatest underused resource. What about the net, you may be asking? (Pause, so you can ask.) Alas, the Internet has too many distractions, especially for dear Renaissance Minds, who have an irresistible compulsion to click on every link they see, and often never read an entire page of text for that very reason. Note that for the most part, I avoid putting links in my text!! This is something very intentional on my part, sly dog that I am. I know that RMs are very easily distracted, and the first link they see is going to have them clicking away, and then they’ll probably find many more links on THAT page, and lo and behold I’ve lost my rapt audience, because by the time they regain their senses they’ll have been surfing randomly for far too long, and will have to go rescue and recook dinner or clean a toilet or something and never return to my site. I wonder how many bookmarks the average person saves in their favorites, and never returns to? Yes, the Internet can be a good resource, but some of the “data” is questionable, and it’s also strong on the element of information overload. Let’s get back to the library…Here are some of the benefits your local library probably provides, that you may not even be aware of;

• Inter-library loan – If I know the title, author, or ISBN of a book I want to borrow, and my local library doesn’t own the book, I can simply submit an Inter-library loan request for the book (over the Internet! How ironic after my earlier point). Then my library will query ALL of the libraries in Illinois, and one of them will send the book to my library, where I go and pick it up. How convenient is that, I don’t even have to pay shipping!
• LIVE librarian. These people are TRAINED to find what you are looking for! Or figure out ways to find it. So please tap into the wonderful resource of your librarian. And I must say, most librarians are much nicer than the stereotypical pointy-nosed shrews of lore.
• DVDs – Not just Hollywood flicks, but many educational and exercise DVDs (and videos) are available at the library. Sometimes there’s a small rental fee, but not all libraries charge a rental fee so be sure and check the policies of all of the libraries close to you.
• Live educational or entertainment programs – My family and I saw a Mark Twain impersonator a few years ago. Now, that was a two-fer - educational and inspirational! I’ve also seen library programs on organizing, studying, quilting, cooking, and more.
• Social programs – Book groups, children’s reading hour, monthly movie showings, and so forth. I’ve been a member of the Fox Lake Library’s book group since 1995. I haven’t gone to every single meeting during that time, but I’ve read many excellent books I wouldn’t have been exposed to otherwise, I’ve become a much more perceptive reader, and I’ve also made some great friends.
• Used book sales – If you wait till the last day, that’s usually the buck-a-bag sale, and boy have we snagged some great books at library book sales.
• Audio books and educational programs – Have you ever heard it said that if you listen to a tape on a subject for an hour a day, in 5 years you will have the equivalent of a PhD on the topic? I can’t prove the statement, but it sure does boost your knowledge to focus on a topic for that long, during say, a daily long car ride to work. Plus it’s a grand way to alleviate the frustration of heavy traffic! There were times I got to work “too early,” during a good part of an audio program that I wanted to keep listening to. They also have fiction books read aloud on audio, if you don’t want to work towards your pseudo-PhD. And it’s not only for driving, you can listen to audio books while you do housework (that gives me another 10 minutes a week worth of time to listen!), while you walk or exercise, and when you want to relax before going to bed. I personally find it much easier to have headphones and an audio book playing while I’m jogging, than to keep running into trees and ditches while I read and run. But that’s just me.
• Online databases and resources such as FirstSearch – My library has a feature where I’m given a login code, and I can search all sorts of databases and magazine catalogs… FROM MY HOME COMPUTER! Now it doesn’t get any better than that. This is several steps up from the “free” information you can find online, this is published articles by experts in reputable magazines. And you can do this in your underwear! (Or your spouse’s, but we won’t go into your personal peculiarities.) I loooove technology.
• Online renewal – One of my local libraries doesn’t offer this feature yet, but the one I use frequently does. I can log into my account, and select the books I’ve got checked out, and renew them with a click. If there is a hold on the book or if it’s a new release, I can’t renew it, but most of the time I can. The check-out period is 3 weeks, and I can renew twice, so I can bring home a bag of books and take 9 weeks to get through them all! I can really get through some material in 9 weeks.
• Free paperback exchange – several libraries near me have a free exchange system. I bring in my paperbacks, and get to take home as many as I brought in, for free!

2. Online sources – Amazon isn’t the only way to buy books online. But gosh-darn it, it IS one of the best!! There are some other good online resources too, so grab your hat and let’s explore them;

• Amazon.com – Yes, probably the world’s best-known online bookstore. There’s a reason for that! Amazon has a phenomenal catalog of books; it’s not often that a book I’m looking for isn’t at Amazon. Generally, some older out-of-print books can be harder to find. Also, Amazon’s free shipping for orders over $25 is very hard to beat. Their prices are usually quite competitive, too.
• Half.com – If I’m looking for a book that’s not a new release, Half.com is my favorite source. It’s now affiliated with eBay, and the site sells both new and used books – the seller has precise categories to rate the books with. I’ve had fantastic success with all of my many, many Half.com transactions, and most of the books I’ve bought there have been in brand-new condition. Don’t let the name mislead you, the books aren’t necessarily half off cover price. But I’ve gotten paperbacks there for under a dollar – the shipping is often more than the book! But I think paying 5 bucks for buying a book AND getting it mailed to you, is still a heck of a deal. Unfortunately, it’s a lot harder to save on shipping using Half. If you add multiple books to your order, they generally come from different sellers or suppliers, so you’ll be paying about $3.80 or so shipping per book, at the current rate. However, if I can get a book Amazon sells for $12 for 5 or 6 bucks instead, I’m happy to pay the shipping fees. Before I buy from Amazon, I generally check out Half first for a price comparison.
• Alibris – Ok, I’ve never, ever bought from Alibris, but it’s got such a stellar reputation I felt I had to mention it. Comments from those experienced with Alibris would be appreciated. Alibris specializes in selling used, out-of-print and hard-to-find books.

3. Local Bookstores – Let’s not forget to support our local bookstores! Not only the biggies, like Borders and Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million, but also the individual new and used bookstores that sometimes struggle to compete with the giants. There’s a CD reseller close to our house that sells used books for $1 each. I went there and spent $17, and got 17 awesome books, at the price I would’ve paid for ONE of them at one of the giant chain bookstores! Talk about a double rush – getting a ton of books, whoo hoo, and for almost nothing! If the bag wasn’t so heavy I would’ve done cartwheels on the way out of the store.

4. BookMooch – I don’t know how this site existed for so long before coming to my awareness, but Bookmooch is an online book exchange site. I joined in January, 2008, and immediately swapped some books and received some books.  So far, I’ve had a wonderful experience with the site. I’m still figuring out how it works, but it’s a great way to exchange books and also to build a network of fellow readers. This one can be pricey if you do a lot of exchanging, but it’s certainly quite affordable in small doses. With the envelopes and postage, it costs me an average of about $3.50 to send out a book. It’s a pretty good price for a book and the “fun” exchange aspect of it adds to the value. Some books aren’t easy to come by on this site, so you will still probably need other sources for books. But Bookmooch’s ease and affordability makes it a great addition to the budget reading resources list.

Of course, there’re also other online bookstores, and eBay, and garage sales, and book exchanges, and such, but the above list are my favorite sources for great books at affordable prices. The only limits to my reading become the time I have available to do it! Speaking of which, it’s time for a wrap, I need a reading fix.

Disclaimer: The above library information is location dependent. I know the US has better library systems than most other countries. Also, some states seem to have much better library systems than others. I personally believe that Illinois has one of the best, after hearing from readers all over the country. Although I haven’t heard about Hawaii, I know Alaskans don’t have the resources above, so discount books (and extra rooms for book storage) are a must for reading addicts in Alaska. But I have also heard that many states have all of the features and benefits that I mentioned above.