Finding Inexpensive or FREE Books

Last week, I shared a list of books that I hope to read this year. As I wrote my list, I got to thinking about how expensive a reading habit can be, especially if you like reading the latest titles to hit the shelves.

Honestly, I can't really afford to buy new books at this stage of life. We spend an insane amount of money every semester to buy my husband's required law school books. If I'm going to read for fun, I have to keep it FREE or at the very least, really cheap.

If I'm in a mood to read a book that someone has recommended or am just browsing for something new, here's what I do.

Try the local library first.
Yes, I know this isn't a great revelation but it's still one worth sharing. Most libraries have websites that allow you to search their catalog, find out a title's availability, and put in a hold request. I do this regularly from the comfort of my own home. I've usually got a little one with me, so it is WONDERFUL to have the books I want waiting for me a the circulations desk when I get there.

If your library doesn't already own a particular title that you're interested in, you're not totally out of luck. Many libraries will see if they can get it for you through an inter-library loan OR possibly purchase it for their collection if you make a request. Sure, they might not be able to do it, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Also, it is a title you think you might want to own, see if the library has it for sale. Most libraries have a section where they sell donated books for dirt cheap. I know that my local library sells books for $0.25-$1.00. You might have to dig, but you just might find a jewel that you can add to your bookshelf at home.

Try getting a FREE or CHEAPER copy on a digital device.
I have an old-school Kindle with a keyboard. Brett bought it for me back in the days before law school when we had a dependable income. And boy, have I given that thing a workout! Although I love reading a REAL book, being able to download a Kindle book in just moments from home is a nice thing. Kindles have dropped significantly in price -- the cheapest Kindle you can get is only $69 -- a far cry from the $139 we paid a couple of years ago.

But, even if you don't have a Kindle (or if it is not in the budget), you can download a Kindle Reading App to use with your Android phone or table, iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows 8 PC or tablet, Blackberry or Windows phone! I discovered this last year when I was bored at my daughter's swim lesson and had left my kindle at home. I downloaded the app and was able to access all of my Kindle books right on my phone. Awesome!

So, how do you get FREE kindle books, you ask? Well, if it's an out-of-copyright, pre-1923 book, it might be as simple as searching the title in the Kindle Store. Amazon also has some great information on Free Book Collections that you might want to check out. If you don't have a specific book in mind, you might want to:

• Check out the Top 100 FREE Kindle books. On your Kindle, go to the Kindle Store, select "Kindle Bestsellers" and navigate to "Top 100 FREE." Of course, you need to pay attention because sometimes a book will be listed there and the price has changed from $0.00 to an actual price OR sometimes the books are only free with Amazon Prime membership.
• Check out Jungle Deals & Steals. This website lists free Kindle books everyday at 10am.

I also want to mention that oftentimes the Kindle version of a book is cheaper than a paperback or hardback version of a book. Even then, sometimes the Kindle version goes on SALE too! Case in point, I wanted to read Love Does by Bob Goff because a few different friends of mine recommended it. Well, my library didn't carry it, and I checked Amazon to see the price. I must have checked it out at just the right time because I got the Kindle version for just $1.99. It must have been on sale because normally the Kindle version is over $8 and the paperback is over $10.

Try borrowing from a friend. Facebook can help!
When all the above fails, try borrowing it from a friend. If I need something, I've found that Facebook can be an easy way to get the word out quickly. Once when we couldn't get a babysitter, Brett posted it on Facebook and a friend volunteered within 15 minutes. Of course, you've got to find a local friend who has the book you want, but it is definitely worth a shot.

How do you find books for cheap or free?

Booking It in 2013

Another year, another list of books I hope to read. Of course, I don't always get through my list. I certainly read a lot last year -- I just didn't get to everything that was on my Booking It list. Somehow, I got distracted by other books. I guess that can happen when you've got a Kindle and can get free books with the click of a button.

What follows isn't an official to-read list for the next year. Instead, it's more of a list of categories of books plus a few specific titles that I'm interested in reading. I'm hoping that this type of plan will help me add a bit more variety to my reading time.

If I find a really good book, I'll try to post about it on the last Monday of the month and then link up to Booking It 2013 at Life as MOM. If you're looking for reading inspiration, Jessica has a HUGE list of books that might be interesting to read here. Bundle of the Week is also a good resource for potential reading material. I'm on their email list, so I just might splurge on another bundle if the topic is something that really catches my eye.

As it stands now, here's what I'm considering for 2013.

French-Related Stuff: Okay, I'm a total sucker for anything related to France!

• Bringing up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman
• French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters by Karen Le Billion
• French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, and Pleasure by Mireille Guiliano

American Classics: I think this might be a good year to explore some American Classics. Sadly, there are some "big" books that I've never read. I'm getting a little tired of thinking to myself, "I've never read that." when a classic is referred to on TV or in another book. So, I just might try to check some off the list.

• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - I can't remember if I actually read this or not. Huck and Tom Sawyer kind of blend together in my mind. But, I found a  free kindle version here so it won't cost me a thing to check it out. 

Fan Literature: I haven't really explored the world of fan literature, but I thought it might be interesting to try it out this year.

• Sydney's Story: A Prequel to Tale of Two Cities by Eileen Granfors - My high school teacher wrote this book! I remember enjoying A Tale of Two Cities in high school although I do seem to remember that it made me cry. I thought it might be interesting to read Mrs. Granfors' prequel to it. While I'm at it, I'll probably reread A Tale of Two Cities since it's been a good, oh, twenty years since I read it. (Man, does that sentence make me feel old!)
• Georgiana Darcy's Diary: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Continued by Anna Elliott - I love Jane Austen and have read many of her books. I usually read P & P once a year or so. I picked this Kindle version up for free, so I'll definitely give it a try. I believe the author has created a sequel so I might consider picking that up if I enjoy it enough (and if its cheap enough).

Motherhood & Parenting: I picked up all of these ebooks through Bundle of the Week this week. So of course, they are on the list!

• Nurturing Creativity by Renee Tougas
• Mindset for Moms by Jamie Martin
• Parenting with Positive Guidance by Amanda Morgan 
• 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions
• Steady Days by Jamie Martin    

Work: These were on my list last year, but I never got to finish them. I'll give it another go this year.

• 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller
• Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility by Mireille Guliano

5 ebooks on Motherhood for $7.40

Last week I told you about Bundle of the Week -- a website that offers a set of five ebooks on a related topic each week. Each bundle sells for $7.40 (a savings of over 75%) and is available for one week only.

When I got the email announcing this week's bundle, I knew that I would be getting it for myself. This week's bundle includes these FIVE ebooks on Motherhood & Parenting:

• Nurturing Creativity by Renee Tougas: This book is about embracing the seasons of motherhood and appreciating where you are while helping you to make creativity a priority in your life. It will encourage you to let go of perfection, to start small, and to find inspiration in everyday living. This little book will challenge you to make the most of the time you do have to create beauty and meaning with your head, heart, and hands.
• Mindset for Moms by Jamie Martin: This is Jamie Martin's personal manifesto on positive thinking for mothers. It's packed full of lessons she's learned over the years in an easy-to-digest format that's perfect for busy mamas.
• Parenting with Positive Guidance by Amanda Morgan: Get the tools for understanding your child’s behavior and effectively teaching and guiding your child toward increased self-control while fostering a healthy parent-child relationship. No book you read will ever change your child. But this book can change you and how you react to your child in daily situations. It’s the difference in those interactions that will effect real change in your children and your family.
• 4 Moms of 35+ Kids Answer Your Parenting Questions: This book is packed full of wisdom from experienced moms who have been there, done that. They answer tons of common parenting questions on everything from nap time and grocery shopping with kids to keeping your patience and preparing for the s-e-x talk, all organized in 17 easy-to-read chapters.
• Steady Days by Jamie Martin: Steady Days is a book about mothering with a focus, juggling your mothering career with other roles you may hold, and being mindful as you interact with your children. In the midst of potty training and temper tantrums, Steady Days takes you through the process of becoming a professional mother: one who is organized and excited to spend time with your young children.

Over the past week, I've been thinking a lot about what type of mother I am and where I need to grow. My girls both celebrate their birthdays this month, and well, it seems as if time is passing all too quickly. There is so much that I've yet to teach them. So, I'm really looking forward to diving into these books soon!

If you're interested in this bundle, remember that it is only available through 8am EST on Monday, January 14th. Also, you might want to consider signing up for the weekly newsletter so that you don't miss out on any bundles.
  
 

Easy.Homemade by Mandi Ehman

Last week I got a sneak peek at a new ebook, and I've been waiting to share it with you. Well, the wait is over! Today Mandi Ehman is releasing her latest ebook, Easy. Homemade. - Homemade Pantry Staples for the Busy Modern Family.

This book features more than 60 recipes with chapters on beverages, seasonings, condiments, pantry staples, dairy, snacks, and baking mixes. Just looking at the table of contents makes me hungry! You can even download a free sample of the book to check it out.

Right now, if you purchase Easy. Homemade. through August 21st, you'll get free printable recipe cards, the Kindle and Nook files to load onto those devices and acccess to all of the recipes from the book on PlantoEat.com. Best of all, this ebook is on sale for just $0.99! Really, you can't beat that!

Get your copy today!

The Summer Survival Guide

Okay, I'm trying not to freak out that summer is nearly here. Lu finished preschool on Tuesday, and Ella is set to finish in just a couple short weeks. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to have them home for the summer. But, I'm also just a tad overwhelmed as well. Now that we're living the life of a law school family, I'm working from home as a virtual assistant for bloggers and blog contributor to supplement our income (aka school loans). Somehow, I've got to figure out how to juggle that along with having two kiddos at home full-time. I know that they will become bored and bicker if I don't have something up my sleeve. One of my solutions? The Summer Survival Guide!


Last year, my big sister Jessica published this awesome ebook full of summertime inspiration for planning family fun. It includes printables and customizable pages as well as ideas for home management, emergency preparedness and more.


As someone who has personally read every one of the 200+ pages in this book, I can confidently say that it is worth every penny of its $9 price! If you're interested in learning more about the book, click on the link above. You can even view the Table of Contents as well as a sample to see if it is right for you and your family.

Last summer, we were in the midst of remodeling our condo, and packing up for a cross-country move. Sadly, we weren't able to plan much summer fun into our lives. This summer is going to be different with the Summer Survival Guide!

A Book Review: One Bite at A Time

Yes, a new post today! Amazing, isn't it? After about 3 weeks of silence, I'm finally getting back online. January is always a busy time for me. This year it was a time to evaluate my life, celebrate the lives of my girls with their birthdays AND visit with my parents who flew out from California. January was a good month...it just didn't leave a lot of time for blogging.

During January, I did manage to work on one of my goals for 2012 to read more. While my parents were here, I managed to read One Bite at a Time: 52 Projects for Making Life Simpler by Tsh Oxenreider. Thanks to my sister Jamie and an awesome Amazon.com Gift Cards from Christmas, I was able to download this book right to my Kindle. Gotta say, the the Kindle does make some things simpler!

Author of Organized Simplicity and creator of the blog Simple Mom, Tsh is forthright and clearly states that approximately 50% of the content can be found online at SimpleMom.net for free. However, I think it's totally worth the $5 to have the info compiled and in an easy-to-read format. As the title states, the book includes 52 projects that are from one (or more) of eight different categories:

• Living Green
• Living Well
• Money Management
• Organizing Your Mind
• Organizing Your Space
• Relationships
• Taking Care of Yourself
• Time Stewardship

Tsh includes a handy little table that illustrates the categories that each of the projects falls under. I really love this table because it gives yet another way to tackle the projects. Sure, you could tackle one project each week and work your way through the book. But, if you know you have an area where you want to grow, such as "living green," the chart helps you identify specific projects that can help you get started. It's a nice way to work toward any resolutions or goals you've set for yourself in the new year. So, as February begins, I think I'll be taking on my goals one bite at a time.

Booking It: Mother Carey's Chickens

Despite my best intentions, I've had a hard time sticking to my original reading plan for this year. To tell the truth, I'm still working on The Happiness Project which was on the top of my list. It has been a great book, but it has made me feel as if I should add so many more things to my to-do list. Given the impending change in my life, the book has made me feel a bit overwhelmed by all that I need to do. And so, I keep renewing it at the library. I hope to finish it sometime this month.

However, I have been reading...just not anything off of my original list. In fact, I've been reading so much that I've neglected blogging! As part of my ten-day anniversary celebration, my husband gifted me with an Amazon Kindle. When I originally heard about the Kindle, I scoffed at the idea. I like a good ol' fashioned book. However, as I've contemplated moving and looked at the overflowing bookshelves that we'll have to pack up and move, I've come to understand the beauty of a Kindle. It can hold up to 3,500 books on one teeny, tiny device...AND I can download so many classic books for FREE.

The first book that I downloaded for my Kindle was Mother Carey's Chickens by Kate Douglas Wiggin. As a child, I loved the movie Summer Magic which was based on this book. For years, I searched in vain for a copy. Our library didn't carry it, and I couldn't find it in print online. There was a free pdf version available online, but I really didn't want to sit at a computer to read a book. So, it just remained on my to-read list. I was ecstatic to find the free Kindle version. (I also discovered that there are now print versions available here and here.)

Oh, my! Like many books that have been turned into movies, Mother Carey's Chickens was sooooooo much better than the film. Don't let the title fool you. It's not about some old farm lady and her chickens. Rather, it's the story of the ficticious Carey Family who start their lives over in a small country town after the untimely death of Mr. Carey forces them to economize and live on a severly reduced income. I was inspired by Mrs. Carey -- she is pretty much the epitome of a loving and caring woman who not only strives to raise five children on her own but who demonstrates kindness and hospitality to everyone she encounters. Although I know she is only character in a book, I found myself wanting to be more like her.

I also found myself being encouraged in my own life circumstances by a poem referred to in Chapter 32. Now, I am not a great lover of poetry; however, I found myself looking up "Doors of Daring," a poem by Henry van Dyke. It's a poem about taking risks and living life to the fullest despite the challenges that come our way. One line in particular was an inspiration to the Carey children and it is to me as well,
          "And all the bars at which we fret,
          That seem to prison and control,
          Are but the doors of daring, set
          Ajar before the soul."
 
As I look to my family's future that most likely includes a career change, a cross-country move, and reduced finanical circumstances, I am tempted to worry and allow them to control me. Rather, I need to look at these changes as an adventurous challenge that I can and will overcome and hopefully be a better person for having done so.

Booking It in 2011

Once upon a time, I was a reader. Oh, did I love to read! However, once I started reading a book, I couldn't put it down until I finished the last page. Needless to say, that particular reading style doesn't jive well with marriage and being a mother to 2 kids. So, my marathon reads have been few and far between during the past decade or so. I usually reserve them for when my hubby is out of town. That's pretty much how I got through Harry Potter and the Twilight Series. (Yes, sometimes I read juvenile fiction. And yes, those two series are quite addictive.)

This year, I think I'm going to attempt to read and not to neglect my family in the process. I figure if I can read one book a month (and avoid any seriously addicting series of books), I might find some enjoyment and maybe learn something new along the way. So, I'm going to join the other readers at Life as Mom for "Booking It in 2011." For some months, I will follow along with the "assigned" reading and for some I'll "choose my own adventure." Of course, I'm not so organized that I've actually assigned specific months to certain books. But, this is what I'm looking at over the course of the year:

• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
• The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy
• Family Feasts for $75/Week by Mary Ostyn
• 1L of A Ride by Andrew J. McClurg
• The Marriage Book by Nicky & Sila Lee
• The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
• Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider
• Pride and Prejudiceby Jane Austen
• The Reluctant Entertainer by Sandy Coughlin
• On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson

Of course, I reserve the right to change this list at any moment...but this is what I'm thinking of right now. Hey, what is Lord Jim doing in that picture above? Under no circumstances will I be adding Lord Jim to my list. That is one book that I hope never to reread. (I'm not sure why we even OWN that book? Maybe just so it looks pretty on the shelf?) I read it in the 11th Grade, and it seriously made me narcoleptic. But hey, if you're having trouble sleeping, you might want to give it a try.