Photo by nkzs
Summer is a great time to spend hours and hours just reading. You can read a novel by the pool. You can read aloud as a family before bedtime. You can set aside a quiet reading time for the kids each day. Unfortunately, books can get pricey if you aren’t careful.
Here is a look at the best places to get free books for this year’s summer reading:
- The library. The library has long been a favorite summer standby for many families and it continues to be one of the best places to get free books. Make sure to return books on time in order to avoid any late fees! You can use a system like LibraryElf to help you with that.
- Online book swaps. You can get great books online and keep them for as long as you want by using book swaps. You list the books that you have available for trade. Each time that someone requests that book from you, you mail it to them and get a credit for sending it. You use your credits to get free books from others using the site. Top sites for online book swaps are Paperback Swap, Frugal Reader and Title Trader. Note that you do typically pay a small shipping fee to send your books to others but the cost is minimal if you use media mail shipping.
- Local book swaps. You can also swap books with others locally to avoid shipping fees. There are book swap meetups advertised online but you can also create your own book trading circle with friends and families in your area. If someone in the group has some basic computer skills then it’s fairly easy to set up a website where everyone can list their books and request them from one another. Otherwise you could simply meet up weekly with some books for trade and everyone can pick what they want.
- Yard sales. Many yard sales these days offer a “free box” which typically has books in it. If you enjoy going to yard sales then look for these books. If you go to yard sales late in the day then you may also be able to ask the sellers if they’d be willing to give their remaining books away for free or cheap.
- Thrift shops and used book stores. Many of the local used item stores also keep a free section that you can rummage through when you stop in.
- Offer to donate others’ books for them. A lot of people keep books lying around that they no longer want. If you offer to haul people’s books away for them then you can have your pick of the titles for free before you drop them off.
- Get involved with BookCrossing. This is a group in which members randomly leave books for others all around town. It’s kind of a fun experience and a good way to get interesting new titles to read.
- Check book blogs for giveaways. Many blogs that reviews books or write about writing will have regular book giveaways. If you like reading these blogs anyway then start commenting to get those free books.
- Become a book reviewer. You could actually even make some money off of reading books if you wanted to try that this summer. You can set up your own blog that reviews books. Once established, you can start requesting books for free in exchange for review. The easiest way to start getting such books is to attend local literary readings and to meet the authors directly. They’ll often gladly let you walk away from the reading with a free book. If your blog gets popular enough then you might even earn some ad revenue for the reviews but either way you get a free book.
- Read online. There are tons of sites that let you read books and ebooks online for free. Google Book Search is the most well known for classic books and Project Gutenberg is known for ebooks. It’s not quite the same as cracking open a book by the pool but it’s another option for free summer reading.
Reading is a great way to spend the summer both on your own and with your family. Just don’t spend a lot of money to enjoy this summer activity since there are so many ways of getting free books instead.
Brandy @ Brandys Big Bargains
These are some fantastic ideas! Thanks for the great post. I have two daughters who can’t STOP reading! This will be a huge money saver!
rahlquist
Another one to check into is Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. https://www.dollysimaginationlibrary.com/howworks.php
Kellee
My goal is to read 100 books this year! So, this post is very helpful! I go to the library once a week, but I will definately check out used book stores!
Emily
I’m surprised that BookMooch isn’t mentioned! It is one of the best book swapping sites out there (my personal favorite because it is SO EASY to use) and I’d encourage everyone to check it out. http://www.bookmooch.com
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Julia @ The Frugal Find
If you have a Half Price Bookstore in your area kids can earn a $3.00 gift card each week just for reading 15 minutes a day! At the Half Price Bookstore $3.00 goes a long way!
https://thefrugalfind.com/free-300-gift-card-to-half-price-bookstore/
Also, Barnes & Noble has a kids summer reading program where at the end they earn a free book too.
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Angela
You can also swap books on bookmooch.com I have been doing it for a while now.
Diana
I like http://www.swaptree.com. You can trade DVDs, video games, and books for free, and then even print your shipping labels from the site. They save all your shipping charges up and bill your credit card once a month. I have done about 15 or so trades this month and gotten some really great items that I traded old things I didnt want anymore- just to name a couple: What to Expect Before You’re Expecting, New Moon (Twilight Series), and many other very popular titles. I highly recommend that site!
Cassidy McKay
The book reviewer idea is a great one, especially if you like romances.
There are many online book review sites who are eagerly searching for romance reviewers, and you will have an unlimited amount of books to read — especially if you are willing to read e-books (digital books to read on your computer, PDA, iPhone, Kindle, or e-reader).
All in return for a short review on what you thought about the book. There are the usual authors that you find on the bookshelves, as well as new authors you may not have discovered yet.
Thanks for sharing these! I’m always looking for new books to read.
Cassidy
nicole
We LOVE paperbackswap.com! Easy to use and a great way to pass along books you are done with.
Laura
Bookcrossing.com is a fantastic idea! I signed up and can’t wait to release a book and track it. Paperbackswap.com is an awesome website – I have traded many books via their website and it’s always been fun and worthwhile. My best find on paperbackswap.com was the Betty Crocker Picture Cookbook… we’ve used it so much! I haven’t tried swaptree.com yet, but I’m going to check it out. Thanks for the tips!
Rachel F
I don’t know if any of you shop at Children’s Orchard, but they have a book swap this year, too. You buy the first kid’s book and then you can swap it all summer long for any book that is $3.99 or under – which is almost all of them! For those who don’t know about Children’s Orchard, they call themselves “upscale resale” and it’s all kids clothes, toys, equipment, etc. I also asked if we have to return the book that we take and they said they don’t keep track of what book we swap, which means if it turns out to be my 3 year old’s favorite book, we can take one in that he doesn’t especially like! We bought a book for $1.99 and will be trading them in all summer long!
Cassidy McKay
I also just came across this free book site online. Looks interesting, and they have books that cross a variety of genres including fantasy and science fiction.
It’s called the Suvudu Free Library.
https://www.suvudu.com/freelibrary/
Cassidy
sito
Not exactly “free” but most library and community fund-raiser used book sales offer bags of books for $1 on the last day of the sale just to move them. I was one of the last people at a used book sale a year ago, and they told me I could have as many boxes of books as I wanted for $1 a box. They just didn’t want to have to pack them all up and store them till the next year. I walked away with nearly 100 books and only paid $5 for them.
Jennifer Escobedo
If anyone is interested in Romance Novels – we at BonapartePress.org have ebooks available for as low as $1.59 a book. Our newest releases are by Lynn Carmer and Kelsey Maxwell. But even better! – we are accepting submissions from new authors. If you’ve always had a romance novel swimming around in your head – now’s the time to put it on paper. Ebook authors are paid monthly – and a little extra spending money for summer couldn’t hurt. Check us out! BonapartePress.org