Kindle/Nook users: How much do you send on books each month?

[katydid1971]

OK so I really want the Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas. I think it would be great for reading in bed and for my mild carpel tunnel. My library has e books but I keep looking for books I'm interested in reading and their selection just isn't very good. Plus because the library is part of a bunch of libraries who together are providing the books, the books I do want have long waiting lists. I usually read a book or two a week, I tend to like chick lit type books :bag so they only usually cost $5-$10 a piece on Amazon. But it all adds up. So how much do you spend and are there ways to help keep the costs down.
Thanks!!!

[bekahjean]

If you use an RSS reader and subscribe to the kindle free books, you will not have a problem getting your fill of chick lit! Usually, they will offer book 1 of a series for free in hopes that you will buy the rest of the series. Sometimes I will buy, sometimes I won't. Usually, you can find entertaining books for free or cheap. A lot books are available in the $0.99 to $3.99 range. How many you buy depends on how fast you read. :)

[ahisma]

Pretty much nothing.

I read the free books and get the rest from the library's e-books system. Ours has long wait too, but once you get on the list and they start rolling in you can keep a pretty steady supply if you keep on adding to your list.

Very, very occasionally I buy a book that isn't available from the library's system, but that doesn't happen often.

[niccig]

Pretty much nothing.

I read the free books and get the rest from the library's e-books system. Ours has long wait too, but once you get on the list and they start rolling in you can keep a pretty steady supply if you keep on adding to your list.


I did this for my summer reading. I was surprised at how quickly my name moved up the hold list. So get your name on the list and look at the free books at amazon.

[lalasmama]

I spend about $30 a month on books for my kindle, but occasionally less.

I do lots of free books, or their sale books. I've really enjoyed some, and others have been "meh", but for $4 and under, I don't feel like I've broken the bank if I don't like it.

If you are a Prime member, then there's a lot of books that you can get on loan through Amazon.

I limit myself to 1 "full price" book a month. This month's choice was "Bringing in Finn." I read an excerpt in the latest Good Housekeeping (I think, some ladies magazine or another), and couldn't wait to start it.

As far as suggestions, oh my. SO gives me crap for my general chick lit tendencies. I think "Bringing In Finn" is going to be good--lady has infertility, and her mom, who's menopausal, offers to be the surrogate (that's nothing more than what it written on the back cover!). I just finished "While You Went Away" (Michael Baron), which is the fictional story of a widower learning to live again after finding his wife had passed away. Totally young adult fiction is "That Boy" and "That Wedding" (Jillian Dodd)--starts out when the main character is in 4th grade, and there's a new neighbor moving in across the street, interrupting her friendship with the boy next door; each chapter is her growing up some, so by the end of "That Boy" she's in college.

[egoldber]

Virtually zero. I use the Amazon free books and my library system extensively.

[hillview]

0-20 a month. Depends on how much I am reading.

[kerridean]

Zero. I use the Amazon Prime lending library. I love it.

[Neatfreak]

I'll buy about two books a month, and usually keep my spending under $25 for the month. I don't have access to a library or Prime, and I haven't had much luck lately picking free books. All of the ones I downloaded for summer reading lacked narrative momentum or suffered from run-on sentences - which I take to mean that they were free for a reason!

[KrisM]

Very little. I've spent about $30 since November. I get some of the $1.99 or $.99 deal books. But, most are library or Prime lending books. So far, I have not bought a book at full price yet.

[KrisM]

Zero. I use the Amazon Prime lending library. I love it.

But that only is 1 per month, so not really enough to fit a lot of people's needs.

[brittone2]

Very little. I bought 3 books on vacation, and I purchased the Wool omnibus a few months ago, but other than that, most of my books are e-books from the 4 different libraries we can tap into.

DS1 and I also use Gutenberg and similar sites for classics.

[kmkaull]

Very little on books. However, I do subscribe to several magazines. Those vary from 1.99-4.99/month.

[urbanmommy]

It varies but I try to keep it to one book every month to 6 weeks. I get a lot of e books through my library system and get the occasional prime free book. I've had a hard time finding prime free ones that I like but if you like chick lit there's a lot of that.

Sent from my HTC_Amaze_4G using Tapatalk 2

[crl]

Well, I have an iPad and use the kindle app some of the time. I spend about $15 a month on books. That's what I buy from Amazon. The rest I check out from the library or get free from Amazon. I read quite a bit, maybe two to three books a week? And I buy about one a month.

Catherine

[JElaineB]

I hardly spend anything, maybe $30 or $40 since last Christmas when I got the Kindle. I have been able to find enough books to keep me busy either via my library (the waiting lists go much quicker than they might appear) or through services which alert me to free books like ereaderiq.com, and Pixel of Ink.

[mackmama]

Too much :bag

DH just commented that the Kindle seems to be costing us a lot of money because I can download books so fast now (versus shopping in a bookstore). I typically read a book in 2-3 days and go through a lot of books very quickly.

[katydid1971]

If you use an RSS reader and subscribe to the kindle free books, you will not have a problem getting your fill of chick lit! Usually, they will offer book 1 of a series for free in hopes that you will buy the rest of the series. Sometimes I will buy, sometimes I won't. Usually, you can find entertaining books for free or cheap. A lot books are available in the $0.99 to $3.99 range. How many you buy depends on how fast you read. :)
What is a RSS reader?

[teresah00]

Pretty close to $0


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[vonfirmath]

I download WAY more free books than I can possibly read. Very occasionally I'll buy a book but almost everything on my Kindle is free and i've found some EXCELLENT books I would never have read that way.

(Also some real duds. But you can delete off your device stuff you don't want to keep)

[wellyes]

I have had mine about 2 months. I have:
-purchased one full price book
- purchased a couple of "Kindle only" cheap books (Wool and its prequel)
- downloaded 2 dozen freebies, of which I read & enjoyed 1, deleted maybe 8, and haven't tried the rest yet
- gotten 3 books from the library

There are kindle subscriptions you can get for $1 per MONTH which gives a daily "these 5 books are free today only" update.

I still do about 50% of my reading using physical books.

[wildfire]

Most of the books I read are library books, I spend very little. I also stocked up on a series or two before Random House went to agency pricing and I could use coupons on them at Kobo.

[schrocat]

I borrow a ton from the library's stash of kindle books. I just buy whatever the library doesn't have.

[BeachBum]

My library sucks.
I spend a lot buying books for my Kindle. I read 4-8 books a month and buy all of them unless I get lucky and one is from the prime lending library.

I would really like some tips on how to find free books. Can you give us some pointers on how you search etc?

thanks.

[brittone2]

My library sucks.
I spend a lot buying books for my Kindle. I read 4-8 books a month and buy all of them unless I get lucky and one is from the prime lending library.

I would really like some tips on how to find free books. Can you give us some pointers on how you search etc?

thanks.
Some library systems let you join for a fee. I can access a major city library with a stamp that goes on my local card. I had to sign up for a separate card from the large city library, but there was no fee in my case because it is part of our state system. I probably will never access the physical library (it is over an hour away), but the e-book selection is amazing, and growing.

We pay $30 to access another local library system because as HSers, it is worth that to us. Then we have two local library systems that we use for free. All of that to say, depending on how much you are spending on books, it may be worth checking into other library systems, even if you have to pay for them. I know some posters here have mentioned joining large city library systems, even if they have to pay a fee. Is there any chance you can access other systems within your region or state?

If you like classics, Gutenberg and the like are great. There are a lot of great books available in the public domain for kids, like the Thornton Burgess animal books or the Wizard of Oz series. As HSers, we sometimes dig up some old texts in the public domain that are pretty amazing too. I just found out about some one syllable history readers for DD that are pretty fantastic.

[KrisM]

My library sucks.
I spend a lot buying books for my Kindle. I read 4-8 books a month and buy all of them unless I get lucky and one is from the prime lending library.

I would really like some tips on how to find free books. Can you give us some pointers on how you search etc?

thanks.

Amazon has 100 free in various categories and they books change over time. I check that every couple weeks.

Also, try searching within Kindle-> ebooks for "0.00" and you'll get a bunch of free.

[egoldber]

There are more available than the top 100 bestsellers, although that is a good place to start and usually enough for me. I check once a day although the books change frequently. Depending on the genre(s) you like, there are a lot of free books out there.

There are also websites for free (legal) Kindle books: http://www.techsupportalert.com/free-books-kindle

[bekahjean]

What is a RSS reader?

A RSS reader is a tool that you can use to subscribe to websites. Instead of going to each site everyday, they will update into your reader. I use Google reader, just because I have a gmail account and it's convenient. If you go to the Top Kindle Books page (http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Kindle-Store-eBooks/zgbs/digital-text/154606011/ref=pd_ts_zgc_kstore_154606011_morl?pf_rd_p=130835 6082&pf_rd_s=right-3&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=1286228011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=024PK8264HPCR6SD3RWH)

scroll all the way to the bottom and you will see
RSS Feed (Learn more)
Subscribe to: Best Sellers > Kindle eBooks
Subscribe to: Top Free > Kindle eBooks

If you subscribe to the free books feed, whenever a new free book makes it into the top 100 free books, it will show up in your reader. Then, when you check your reader, all the new free books will be listed. Sometimes books are only free for a short time, and the price will have gone up by the time you check. That's annoying, so be sure to double check that the book is still free when you click through to Amazon.

There are some apps to get your rss feed on a smartphone, as well. I don't really like the one I use, so I won't bother recommending it. :)

[KrystalS]

Too much :bag

DH just commented that the Kindle seems to be costing us a lot of money because I can download books so fast now (versus shopping in a bookstore). I typically read a book in 2-3 days and go through a lot of books very quickly.

:yeahthat: Glad I'm not the only one! I need to figure out where you guys are getting all these free/cheap books. Seems like everything I want to read is always full price, which keeps going up BTW! My local libraries don't offer e-books.

[JElaineB]

I would really like some tips on how to find free books. Can you give us some pointers on how you search etc?

thanks.

eReaderIQ (http://www.ereaderiq.com/) - Sign up for emails from http://www.ereaderiq.com/. You can specify which categories/genres you want to receive emails about. You can also subscribe to their Facebook feed. They also have a blog with free books listed at http://www.bookbasset.com/.

Pixel of Ink (http://www.pixelofink.com/) - Sign up for emails from http://www.pixelofink.com/ (http://www.pixelofink.com/). You can also subscribe to their Facebook feed.

Kindle Nation Daily (http://kindlenationdaily.com/)- List all free Kindle Books here (http://kindlenationdaily.com/knd-free-book-search-tool/). You can also search and look by category. I subscribed to their emails but found they were a little too "newsy" for me.

[vonfirmath]

My library sucks.
I spend a lot buying books for my Kindle. I read 4-8 books a month and buy all of them unless I get lucky and one is from the prime lending library.

I would really like some tips on how to find free books. Can you give us some pointers on how you search etc?

thanks.

1. Lately, I've gotten most of my freebies on Facebook because of The Common Room's headmistress posting finds she's found. http://thecommonroomblog.com/

2. Money Saving Mom also posts freebies she's found that she thinks her reader would be interested in. http://moneysavingmom.com/

3. Books on the knob: http://blog.booksontheknob.org/

4. Christian books: http://www.inspiredreads.com/

[AnnieW625]

I did this for my summer reading. I was surprised at how quickly my name moved up the hold list. So get your name on the list and look at the free books at amazon.

Just for curiousity sake is your library system run by the county or the city? I don't have a kindle yet, but am thinking because in a few months I'll have both girls in gymnastics at the same time so I might actually have some reading time:boogie: and since I am cheap I am all for borrowing library books if I do end up getting a kindle or another e reader. I am part of the county library system.

[sntm]

I have a nook. Haven't set up library access since my reading is erratic and I like reading multiple books at once so it may take me weeks to finish.

I prob spend $25 every 3 months. Way more on actual books though

[wellyes]

Just for curiousity sake is your library system run by the county or the city? I don't have a kindle yet, but am thinking because in a few months I'll have both girls in gymnastics at the same time so I might actually have some reading time:boogie: and since I am cheap I am all for borrowing library books if I do end up getting a kindle or another e reader. I am part of the county library system.

A lot of libraries use the Overdrive service. You get it thought your local library's web page, but it is not part of the catalogue. Can be hard to spot, you have to really look for it.

[doberbrat]

A lot of libraries use the Overdrive service. You get it thought your local library's web page, but it is not part of the catalogue. Can be hard to spot, you have to really look for it.

I wonder if Overdrive has varying 'levels' b/c I use overdrive w/my local library system but I also got an acct w/Boston Public Library to use their ebooks and the selection is different.

I have 164 books on my kindle acct and I've spent 11.99. I've had it since Christmas.

I get lots of free books and use the libraries as well. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kindle. I dont spend any $$ on books and dont have the clutter.

[brittone2]

I wonder if Overdrive has varying 'levels' b/c I use overdrive w/my local library system but I also got an acct w/Boston Public Library to use their ebooks and the selection is different.

I have 164 books on my kindle acct and I've spent 11.99. I've had it since Christmas.

I get lots of free books and use the libraries as well. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my kindle. I dont spend any $$ on books and dont have the clutter.
I think overdrive may be the software/service for an individual library to make their e-books available, but I'm not sure. I use 4 different libraries for e-books, and all of them use overdrive. They definitely have different selections, however.

Even more confusingly, I use a large city library system that now offers tokens you can use for additional books that seem to be available all of the time, through a program called "Freading" that they are demo'ing. That is separate from the overdrive offerings.

[Momit]

Since I discovered our library's great selection of Kindle books about a year ago, I've probably spent $10 on books.

I just get on the wait list for a bunch and it keeps a steady stream coming my way.

[KrisM]

I think overdrive may be the software/service for an individual library to make their e-books available, but I'm not sure. I use 4 different libraries for e-books, and all of them use overdrive. They definitely have different selections, however.

Even more confusingly, I use a large city library system that now offers tokens you can use for additional books that seem to be available all of the time, through a program called "Freading" that they are demo'ing. That is separate from the overdrive offerings.

Yes, I think that's right. My library system has 6769 Kindle books. The next one north has 1522. I did an advanced search and just chose Kindle as format. Both have about 200 more epub books than Kindle books.

ETA: And thanks for wondering that! I also checked the other library we often go to. It's a different system, but they allow residents of our city to register our cards there and it turns out I can use their ebooks as well. I just downloaded a book that I'm still #8 on the waiting list for at my local library.