Feeding My Reading Habit as Cheaply as Possible

I love reading and always have a book on the go.  I couldn't imagine getting to sleep without reading a few pages (or even chapters) before I drop off, a habit my Mum, me and my sister all share - and we're all voracious readers.  Personally, I do enjoy a good thriller and lately I've been so low on new reading matter that I've been going through my (large) stock of Ruth Rendells' again - not that there's anything wrong in reading books over and over but I've been longing to find something new to grab my attention.

 
These past few days I've managed to buy four new (or new to me) thrillers for very little expenditure.  The top book by Yrsa Sigurdardottir I 'bought' new on Amazon.  Well, I say 'bought' but I used a £10 Amazon voucher which I'd earned from doing online surveys at Valued Opinions and as the book was only £4.40, with free P&P, I've still got £5.60 credited to my Amazon account.  I knew I'd be most unlikely to find books by 'Iceland's answer to Stiegg Larson' (strange comparison as a) she's a female writer and b) her crime books are nothing like 'The Girl Who....' series) in a charity shop or even in the local library so I went ahead and bought it.   Likewise with the Ruth Rendell book 'Master of the Moor', I've never come across this book in a charity shop or at a boot sale and although I have read it before, many many years ago, I really fancied reading it again so lashed out from my Greenmetropolis earnings and bought it from there.

The Karin Slaughter was a lucky find for 25p at yesterday's 'Coffee & Jumble.'  I'm not usually that keen on American crime writers but Karin Slaughter (what a wonderful name for a writer of gruesome murder stories), Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs I make an exception for.  The Val McDermid book was 50p from the charity shop.  I used to enjoy 'Wire in the Blood' on TV but hadn't read any of her books until quite recently - they're excellent tales.  So that's me sorted with bedtime reading for a little while and with very little monetary outlay.  And, yes, I know I could go to the library and borrow books for free but they never seem to have what I'm looking for in the way of fiction - although their non-fiction books, especially the craft books, are excellent.

Comments

[jo sowerby]

i get mine from the market and the oxfam book shop from time to time, but mostly from amazon or one of their ''friendly'' sales peeps who sell things for 40 pence on occasion.
Jo xx
ps val mcdermid is gr8

[Librariann]

Speaking as a librarian...reserve the books you want ! Southend no longer charge for reservations, so I have gone MAD and reserved (at last count) over 700 books in four years. You can still support your local library by having the books sent there, and the loans will get counted towards their daily stats but you're not relying on their stock. Only thing is, Essex libraries do automated calls to tell your books are in, you can't get emails (they say...) and the calls can come pretty late in the evening.

[Pat]

This might be perfect timing, I have had to downsize and gone through my bookshelves and I have ended up with 3 carrier bags of books ready to go to a charity shop. A sample selection..
Ian Rankin - mainly Rebus novels
Val McDermid - Wire in the blood etc
Karin Slaughter
Patricia Cornwell
Kathy Reichs
Lindsay Davies
and others.
I can post up to 5kg for £6 let me know if you are interested ([email protected]) as it would be nice for them to go to someone who will enjoy them as much as I have.

Regards
Pat (lurker delurking!!)