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Thrifty Pleasures - Winter

© Donna Dunn

While there are plenty of great, even thrifty, activities that can be pursued in winter, it just seems to be a perfect season to cozy up to a good book. Reading is a thrifty habit, requiring a minimum of equipment: a good book, a good source of light, and a comfortable place to park yourself while you read.

Accessible and Affordable

In North America at least, books are everywhere. Inexpensive sources for reading material include your local library, garage sales, thrift stores and used bookstores, as well as regular retail outlets, not to mention online sources for free ebooks, like Project Gutenberg. When you're in acquisition mode, here are some tips to keep in mind:

• When shopping retail, make sure you check out any sale tables; it might take a little digging but you can sometimes find a gem or two at a fraction of their regular price.
• For online book shopping, the AddALL search engine can help you find the best price for that book you want.
• At used bookstores, remember that you can often trade in your unwanted books, or receive store credit toward future purchases.
• Don't overlook your friends when it comes to sourcing out books. You can trade books, or if you're brave and trusting, actually lend/borrow books among yourselves. If you do borrow from a friend, return the book promptly, and in good condition. But if you're at all uneasy about that kind of transaction, perhaps you'd best follow the bard's advice, and "neither a borrower nor a lender be."

And finally, a thrifty note about libraries and user/membership fees: internationally, it's hard to say whether current trends support user fees for publicly funded libraries, but the issue certainly seems to be under scrutiny. For U.S. residents, at least, the American Library Association makes its official position pretty clear at its website.

A Perfect Fit

Sometimes finding a "just right" book is easy, sometimes not. That's where book reviews can be a big help. Here at Suite 101, the Reading Center includes a number of book review topics; the Book Spot is another excellent source for review links and other book-related information.

Another site worth visiting is Book Browser.com. After visiting their Reading Lists section I came away with a brand new selection of authors to look for at my local library. Their lists are compiled by librarians, to help you find the books and authors that will match your interests.

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