No one embarks on a year of meager anything just for the fun of it. That is to say, most people do not proclaim, “I shall not buy!” without a pressing need lurking behind the proclamation. I find myself on a precipice and making the aforementioned proclamation as I am moving out of my current residence and into a small apartment, alone. Up to this point in time I have had the luxury of help—a wonderful boyfriend whose living surpasses my own. We have lots of goodies; high definition television (with a really big screen), a laptop each, high speed Internet service, cell phones, vacations and plenty of other sundry toys to go around. Being a team player certainly provides a good bit of help when it comes to finances and everyday living.

On my own, I just have a bunch of debt. The price of an education is high, and thanks to two blissful years of aimless study at a private university and several focused years of undergraduate and graduate education in a public university, I have plenty of loan payments to make for the next nine years. One year down, hooray!

Now that I have to cover all the bills, high definition television does not seem terribly important to my everyday life, and my gargantuan stacks of unread books are looking like saviors. While I have made resolutions in the past to avoid purchasing extra readables, this year I really have to stick to it. In previous years, I generally held fast to a no buying plan for two reasons; because I was running out of shelf space and I was living on a college student’s salary. I cannot say that either of those problems is any less pressing at the moment, as my two large cherry bookcases are overflowing with a bounty of literary goodness and my pocketbook cringes when student loan payments come due. Despite my best efforts books still leak out into all portions of the house, like the living room and the nightstand. There is inevitably a stack languishing on my kitchen table.

Given my past attempts at frugal book buying, I have come across a wealth of ways to cheaply acquire books. Like any other true book addict, even when I was trying to conserve shelf space and the all important college fun money, I felt an inevitable itch to acquire more books. In those weak moments when I could not contain my book lust any longer, I would consult some of my favorite money-saving book websites for retail therapy. My shelves groaned under the weight of my book lust.

Some people might shy away from conversations involving money—not to mention money and reading—but I guess I’m just shameless that way. While many a writer might insist I buy all new books—thus supporting the industry and my favorite authors—let us be realistic. I can’t afford it, and I don’t know many gluttonous readers who can! I certainly spring for pristine new copies of favorite books or offerings by my favorite writers, but when I am trolling the shelves for untried titles and authors, anything goes in the savings department. Whether I acquire books from the library, a used bookstore, or a friend with similar tastes, frugality is a very real concern.

Aside from assorted methods of borrowing, there are a number of other ways for savvy readers to acquire books. My personal favorite is BookMooch. Without it, my shelves would be very lonely. Subscribers (it’s a free subscription) can list an inventory of books with which they wish to part, and earn points by sending books off to fellow readers. The only cost involved in the process is postage. With BookMooch I have been able to part with upwards of 30 books, and I am not one of the most avid BookMoochers I know. I have seen stats in the multi-hundreds! That’s a lot of postage. While I have been able to clear my shelves to some extent, I have replaced nearly every book I have given away with another new-to-me title. So much for spring cleaning.

While I have not used them all, other websites like PaperBackSwap and BookCrossing allow users to swap books, give them away, and otherwise network with fellow readers.

For those searching for an opportunity to discuss books with other avid readers Yahoo! Groups offers a wealth of book discussion opportunities, as does Shelfari and GoodReads. While these sites are not directly involved in book trading, it is almost inevitable, when book lovers convene to chat, that books will change hands. Some users even go so far as to organize book boxes wherein an originator will create a box of books that he or she wishes to part with, the participants in the group pass the box along, take out the titles they are interested in, and finally replace those books with the ones they wish to pass along to the rest of the group.  In the end, the original box creator ends with—hopefully—a box full of different books.

Aside from websites and discussion groups, blogs are another great way to attract book lovers and eventually engage in some trading. Since book lovers tend to flock to one another, if you create a book blog and begin working your way to others’ blogs, you will eventually find yourself a member of a fantastic community of people. Not only do book giveaways occur frequently in the world of book blogging, readers tend to offer books to readers with similar tastes, and if you review books regularly, you might find yourself on the receiving end of a great deal of publisher swag. Blogging is an increasingly respected venue in which publishers can spread the word about new authors, so it is ripe with opportunities to secure titles inexpensively and help boost your favorite authors at the same time.

I have to admit, I dread the book buying withdrawal ahead of me in coming months. There is nothing quite like a lazy day browsing the bookstore, fondling books here and there, and finally heading home with a bag full of new darlings. However, thanks to the Internet and accommodating book lovers eager to spread their readerly fairy dust on the heads of others, new books are not out of reach, even in a year of meager buying.


Andi is a recovering university academic employed by the North Carolina community college system as an English instructor. While she decided to forego a Ph.D. and career as a professor, she fills in all the free time her current position affords her with editing literary publications, reviewing, freelancing, and blogging at Estella’s Revenge. Her work can be found in the journal, Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States (MELUS), and Altar magazine as well as online in various venues such as PopMatters.com. She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC), and writes fiction. Her turn-ons include new books and gelato, while her turn-offs are reality television and washing dishes. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it