One of the best frugal hobbies is reading. But when you’re burning through 5 books a week, it might not be as cheap as you might think! New books often cost around $20 a pop, so your book budget can easily balloon out of hand if you’re constantly hopping on Amazon.
If you’re a major bookworm and don’t want to spend nearly that much, the good news is there are much cheaper ways to get your hands on cheap ebooks and audiobooks (and sometimes even for free)!
I love a good read as much as the next person, but paying full price for your favorite titles can hurt your wallet. Next time you’re in the market for a specific ebook or audiobook, try finding it for cheap at one of these places.
1. Libby
Best for: Avid readers
When it comes to getting audiobooks and ebooks for free, it’s hard to beat Libby!
Libby is a website and mobile app that allows you to log in with your library card from your local library to borrow ebooks and audiobooks digitally. You can think of Libby as a fully virtual version of your hometown library. You “borrow” titles for a specified period of time (usually for 14-21 days), and they are automatically returned at the end of your rental period.
Libby is my absolute favorite because it’s full of relevant and current titles. After poking around for a few minutes, I found popular series like The Hunger Games and Harry Potter, as well as books from popular authors like Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo. I even found Britney Spears’ new memoir!
And of course, I had to check and make sure that Libby was stacked with incredible personal finance classics, and it did not disappoint. Some of my favorites include:
- “Living Large in Lean Times,” by Clark Howard
- “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki
- “Quit Like a Millionaire” by Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung
- “Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life” by Bill Perkins
- “The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy” by Thomas J. Stanley
- “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason
I was completely blown away by just how current these titles were. I found multiple books here that I had recently paid for on my Kindle on Libby for FREE. It always pays to check on Libby first before buying something. Libby is one of the best ways to make the most of your e-reader. If you have a Kindle, you can even load Libby books onto it by linking your Amazon account!
Your mileage may vary as each library offers a different selection. Some are better than others! If your e-book and audiobook availability is paltry, check and see if you can get a free or cheap non-resident library card.
Pro-tip: The waiting list for some popular books can be many weeks or months. Get on the wait list for them! Put a few books you want to read on hold so that you’re slowly but surely moving up the list.
2. Hoopla
Best for: Netflix Lovers
If you can’t find the book you’re looking for on Libby, be sure to try Hoopla next. Hoopla is another way you can borrow audiobooks and ebooks for free using your library card. But in addition to audiobooks and ebooks, you can also stream movies and TV shows!
With Hoopla, you have access to 5 “instant borrows” and 3 “flex titles” each month. Flex titles are books and audiobooks that can only be borrowed by one person at a time, so you’re able to request it to be put on hold for you.
Again, I found tons of trending books on here, like “The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” “Icebreaker, and the Bridgerton series.
Even though this post is about books, I wanted to highlight just how many movies you can find on Hoopla. While I didn’t know all of them, I did find some very popular and relatively recent movies, like “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” (which I paid to rent not once, but twice last month because I didn’t finish it during my 48-hour watch period 🤬), “The Whale,” and “Past Lives.” And of course, it’s packed with classics like “My Cousin Vinny,” “500 Days of Summer,” and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” as well as family movies like “Anastasia,” “Daddy Daycare,” and “The Magic School Bus” series! You can even watch the Broadway taping of “Hamilton” for free.
Hoopla is amazing because, in addition to having tons of ebooks and audiobooks, it’s essentially a free streaming service. Could you cancel one of your streaming subscriptions like Netflix or Hulu for a few months and work your way through this free catalog? Food for thought…
3. Borrow from a friend
Best for: The Social Butterfly
Over the years, I have forged some of my closest friendships over a shared love of books. There’s something even more satisfying about enjoying a good read knowing it came from one of your besties. Beyond saving money, borrowing a book from a friend is a way to connect with them on a new level by sharing an interest in something they care about. Then, you can get together over coffee and discuss your thoughts about the book. What could be more fun!?
If you have even just one friend, congratulations! You’ve just doubled your book library. You can even set up a monthly book swap with your friends where you each recommend a book you think the other person would like. Or, better yet – book club anyone?
4. Chirp
Best for: Avid Listeners
If you’re an audiobook fiend, you need to check out Chirp. This website offers really good deals on popular audiobooks with no fees or subscription costs. It’s similar to Audible, but instead of paying a subscription each month, you can pay only for the audiobooks you’ll listen to, usually at a deep discount.
While Audible is great, if you go a few months without using it, you’re still paying that subscription fee, and consequently wasting money. Using Chirp instead can prevent you from spending money on services you aren’t using!
Most audiobooks I’ve seen on Chirp fall below the $7 price range, and they even have dollar deals that rotate on their site. Many of their lowest prices are for classics like “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” “Jane Eyre,” and “Moby Dick.”
If you’re looking for a specific audiobook, I recommend checking on Libby and Hoopla first to see if you can snag them for free, and if not, jump over to Chirp and grab that book at a substantial discount.
5. Bookbub
Best for: The Ereader
Can’t find the ebook you’re looking for on Libby or Hoopla? Then mozy on over to Bookbub!
Look familiar? That’s because Bookbub and Chirp are sister companies. While Chirp handles the audiobooks, Bookbub offers steep discounts on ebooks. It has tons of titles in the $2-3 range, offering a range of current titles. And just like Libby, you can load these books onto your Kindle after purchasing them.
6. Spotify
Best for: Music Lovers
Did you know that you can use your Spotify Premium membership to listen to audiobooks?
Included with Spotify Premium, you can listen to audiobooks for up to 15 hours each month at no additional cost! While this isn’t a ton of listening time for those who plow through books, it’s a sweet benefit for casual listeners, especially if you already pay for Spotify to listen to music.
However, I don’t think it’s worth it to buy this just for the audiobook benefit. Spotify costs $11.99 per month. Those 15 hours can go fast so there are likely better options available for heavy audiobook listeners who don’t use Spotify to stream music.
Pro-tip: Prioritize listening to shorter books on the Spotify platform. You might be able to listen to two or three audiobooks that fit under that 15-hour cap in a month!
7. Project Gutenberg
Best for: History Lovers
Project Gutenberg and I go way back to my college days. I first learned about this site while studying classical history, and used this website to read translations of works by prominent ancient Greeks and Romans, but Project Gutenberg has so much more than that to offer.
Project Gutenberg is a free library with tons of books available. Plus, they have extra street cred because they are the first provider of free online ebooks! Every book has been digitized by volunteers because they believe everyone should have access to these important tomes. Now that’s a mission I can get behind!
Much of what’s available on PG is on the older side. They are free because these are books whose US copyright has expired, and can now be distributed online for free. You can download these books, read them in your web browser, and even add some to your Kindle or e-reader.
Project Gutenberg allows you to search, or browse by topic, with subjects ranging from astrology to zoology. This website is loaded with classics from writers like Shakespeare, Lewis Carrol, Mary Shelley, and more. Personally, I think this website is great for saving on your kid’s summer reading books, or college books. If you’re on the hunt for a classic, be sure to give Project Gutenberg a try!
8. Youtube
Best for: Crowdsourcing
YouTube is an incredible resource for so many things. You can learn how to fix your refrigerator, play virtually any song on any instrument, and find hours upon hours of endless entertainment. But what you may not know, is that YouTube is also a great place to find audiobooks!
There are tons of free audiobooks available on YouTube for free. And if you’re unable to find an official audiobook, you can search for read-along videos people have posted. It may not be perfect, but it’s better than nothing!
Another thing to note is that you’ll have to deal with those annoying ads while you listen (remember when YouTube only had one ad per video!?), so if you really don’t like to be interrupted, it may be worth spending a few dollars to get an official audiobook.
9. Audible
Best for: Amazon Prime Users
While you do have to pay for an Audible subscription to have access to their full library, did you know that Audible also has a selection of free books that you can access with your Amazon Prime account?
If you’re already paying for Amazon Prime, this is a great way to get more bang for your buck from your subscription fees. In addition to a selection of free ebooks, you’ll also find free Audible original podcasts. However, you’re limited to borrowing one audiobook per month, so keep that in mind before making your selection.
Pro-tip: Sign up when Audible offers an extended free trial with multiple free books. Be sure to cancel if you aren’t getting enough value out of that subscription!
10. Open Library
Best for: The Gamify-er
If you love gamifying all aspects of your life, Open Library may just be the best ebook platform for you!
Open Library works similarly to Libby and Hoopla, but it’s only for ebooks. Again, it uses a digital lending system, so you can borrow books for a specified period of time and they are automatically returned for you. However, some classics can be downloaded for free.
What sets Open Library apart for me is its organization and gamification features. You can keep a reading log, and a list of books you’re interested in reading, and can even make and keep track of a yearly reading goal. These features can help make reading even more enjoyable!
11. Kindle Unlimited
Best for: Kindle Lovers
If you’re obsessed with your Kindle, then Kindle Unlimited could be a good value for you! For $11.99 per month, you can borrow up to 20 books at any time with no return window. You’ll have access to millions of titles in their library and will get a discount on many books that aren’t included in Kindle Unlimited.
Whether or not Kindle Unlimited will be worth it to you depends on how much you read and what you’re reading. For example, I personally used to have Kindle Unlimited because a book series I was reading was available on Kindle Unlimited, saving me from spending $20 on each individual book. However, life got busy and it ended up taking me over 3 months to finish the first book- not a great bargain!
If you tear through books, this could be a great value. But, if you’re busy, and average less than 1 or 2 books per month, you’ll probably be better off just buying them outright.
12. Google Play
Best for: Those Who Bundle
Although you’ll have to pay for most of what’s available on Google Play, they have a lot of great deals on ebooks and audiobooks, and even offer some free ebooks and audiobooks!
However, my favorite feature they offer is the ability to make a series bundle. If you’re set on reading the entirety of a series, you can save on all of the books by purchasing them all at once and can save a significant amount of money buying them this way.
The Bottom Line:
Books are one of the cheapest forms of entertainment. And they’re great for your mental health! But that doesn’t mean you have to fork over bucketloads of cash to read or listen to new titles. You can find cheap or free ebooks and audiobooks in many places these days, and read or listen on whatever device you have.
Libby and Hoopla are our overall favorites because they take advantage of your existing local library membership. If you’re a mega bookworm or hate waiting for more popular titles, a subscription service may make sense. Just choose the platform that integrates closest with your existing subscriptions or reading preferences.
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Also, LibriVox.org:
Free public domain audiobooks
Read by volunteers from around the world.
Cool! Never knew about this one!
Librivox is another free audio book website. The readers do a wonderful job, give it a listen. Guttenberg books are oft times where the ebooks they read come from, they also come from Hathitrust books. Classical books are the genre.