A Guide to Finding Cheap Books

I love the fact that I can go online at any time, day or night, and find free fiction in almost any genre, and free nonfiction on almost any subject. But, sometimes, reading something on a computer screen just isn't as satisfying as holding a real, printed book in my own hands, and turning actual pages to see what will happen next.

But buying brand new books from a bookstore or retail store can be hard on the budget.

Luckily, cheap books aren't hard to find if you know where to look.

Find cheap books at the thrift store.

Thrift stores can be a veritable treasure trove of cheap books. And they aren't all ripped and torn, or ten to fifteen years old. In fact, I actually know people who buy a bunch of new books one month, read them, and then give them away the next month.

The only drawback to shopping for cheap books at a thrift store is that they usually aren't very well organized. You'll have to wade through lots of old books and books your aren't interested in to find the newer books, or books by your favorite author. But it's worth it.

Some thrift stores charge a flat fee for all cheap books. (So, all paperbacks are twenty-five cents, while all hardbacks are fifty cents or a dollar.) Others charge based on the original price of a book. In the case of the latter, look for a chart posted nearby that you can use to determine how much the book you want will cost.

Look for cheap books at the library.

Libraries are a great place to find cheap books. As new books come in, libraries have to make room for them, which means getting rid of older books. And you can find these cheap books on a sales table or sales rack, usually near the library entrance.

The libraries aren't trying to make a killing by selling these cheap books. They just want to make a small profit on books they'd have to give away for free otherwise. So, you can find great deals on cheap books there.

And find is the operative word. As with thrift stores, the cheap books being sold by your library usually aren't very well organized. You have to really look to find something you want. But it can be worth it to take a look.

Find cheap books at the bookstore.

If you've stopped going to retail bookstores because the prices are too high, you might want to reconsider.

Like libraries, bookstores have to make room for new books. So older books that haven't sold yet often end up in the "sales bin." You might find last year's best seller for a small fraction of the original cost. And, while the selection might be smaller than what you'd find at a thrift store, the cheap books in retail bookstores are often better organized. Not to mention brand new.

A love of actual, printed books doesn't have to cost you an arm and a leg. There are cheap books out there just waiting to be found.