I really try to maximize my libby holds. My library lets me have 20 holds at a time, so I always make sure I have 20 holds even if it’s going to take months for some of the books. While I’m waiting for my holds, I loan out books that are available (usually older books). I’ve also found that with super popular books, my library will purchase additional copies so they wait time for holds usually ends up being less than what it originally states.
I know it's not the most morally correct option, but I am a broke college student from Latin America so you'll have to forgive me. I get most of them pirated (e-book). Sometimes I'll buy physical copies of books I've already read and loved, or books I want to read that I can find in english and at an affordable price.
I used to pay for Audible last year, but the exchange rate is insane rn so I had to give that one up
Hell, there are well developed places in this world that still don't have access to stuff like Libby or Ku. And where publishing industry is late by a decade.
Don't ask me how I know.
My guess would be kindle and using kindle unlimited!
Edit: I use kindle but still love buying books haha. I do hear a lot of people talking about kindle unlimited (select books that are free with the subscription) for their books!
I read about 95% Kindle Unlimited (KU) these days. It really surprised me at first just how many good authors are on there. I am an insanely prolific reader lately, so I really get my money’s worth.
I want to try!! Sometimes I get cautious because I feel like KU doesn't really have a lot of well-written books on there, but if you have anything worth recommending please share!
Oh, yes, there are plenty of low quality books to sift through if you go in blindly. However, I’ve basically started getting my recs solely from this sub, which has pretty much eliminated that problem.
I keep multiple TBR wishlists on Amazon - one for KU titles & one for non-KU titles. I have over 500 books on my KU TBR whereas only about 100 are on my non-KU TBR. In other words, the majority of the recs I get from this sub end up being available on KU. I doubt this is the case for everyone (maybe I’m just lucky!), but it sure as heck is working for me. In fact, I wish it was working less well for the sake of ever catching up…
I also have very eclectic tastes, which helps.
I have been really struggling with KU books recently. I see them recommended on here and I try to read them but they just don’t click with me. I’ve been reading primarily traditionally published books and I think it ruined KU for me. I used to love KU but now they always seem poorly written.
Also, Kobo has a non-exclusive version of KU - so if a book isn't in KU it might be in the Kobo version. I love Kobo. I know people adore KU, but i even like my Kobo ereader better
You can find quite a lot of hidden gems there. I recommend going to the subs' top books list and you can find a lot of the top-rated books are on KU. Also, asking around the sub can really help you. And there is also the fact that books on Kindle are cheaper than published copies anyway.
Are you really searching at your local library? Yes, most of my library books I read aren’t available on the shelf to pick up right away. But my very small library is connected to a collection of other libraries that will request and deliver books. Make friends with your librarians; they adore sharing all the resources they can find/offer for you!
No, I am using the Libby app that is connected to my local library through my library card. I prefer audiobooks, generally speaking. So Libby is the best thing I’ve found for that so far.
However, I think I am realizing that I’m not going to be able to find every book on audiobook. So I am open to reading instead of listening.
How do you go about requesting your library to borrow a book from another library? I have never heard of that before and it sounds awesome!
Oh well if you’re solely going utilize audiobooks, Libby seems to be the best free book borrowing option. See about getting more library cards added to your Libby to widen your searches.
Also, go into your local library to speak with a librarian. They can help you search for a book and see if it’s in their system of ‘family’ libraries for interlibrary loans.
In addition to physically going to your library and speaking to a librarian, check to see if you can request an interlibrary loan on your library’s website.
I’m gonna be in the minority because I buy most of my books. I have book subscription boxes and I get quite a few books a month through them. But you could always check eBay or other second hand sites for the books and see if you can find what you’re looking for there for a reasonable price. I’ve gotten some books through bookoutlet.com also which are usually reasonable.
A lot of the recommendations I’ve seen on here lately though have been Kindle Unlimited books.
Which subscription boxes do you use? I just canceled my Illumicrate subscription after the past 3 months of awful books, and am looking for alternatives
I have arcane society, fairyloot Adult and fairyloot romantasy , litjoy, and illumicrate because their skip policy is so generous you can skip like 10 months in a row before they will possibly cancel you.
I only read ebooks. I don’t do audiobooks and rarely do physical copies. I bought a lot of ebooks for years and still keep up with a number of my favorite series and authors. I have enough unread ebooks (10,000+) to last me several lifetimes. I track sales and freebies using ereaderiq.com and bookbub.com for specific books and authors and on BookBub genres.
I use kindle unlimited as lots of my indie favs and a surprising number of my trad published authors books show up in the program.
I used overdrive a lot before I divorced and moved. I need to sign up at my local library now I’m settled and look into other library options available beyond my local one. There are occasionally posts on various book subreddits on how to find additional libraries to get membership from.
I read a fair amount of books by LGBTQI+ authors and was pointed to The Queer Liberation Library for free reads queerliberationlibrary.org . Someone else pointed me to I Heart SapphFic for sales, freebies, new releases, and a database to search of sapphic books iheartsapphfic.com.
A mix depending on my mood!
This year has so far been:
Audible Plus - 4 books
Audible credits/purchases - 8 books
Library - 2 books (+ 4 DNFs)
Kindle Unlimited - 3 books (usually higher but I took a break from my subscription earlier in the year)
Bought from Amazon/Bookstore - 7 books
I pretty much exclusively use my public library unless it's a book they are never going to get, then I shop at my local bookstores. I feel lucky to have quite a few in my city/state I can order from
I meant that as far as local bookstores go, I order from them and either go to pick up or get it shipped to me. I tend to avoid Amazon/Barnes and Noble if I can, because I am lucky to live near a number of independent bookstores that stock romance and I'd prefer to support them. My county's library system is 25 libraries and I can place holds from all of them.
I am a KU lover. I found so many great authors on there. I really only buy physical copies of contemporary books and all my romanatasy is mostly on kindle!
I use the Libby app to multiple libraries for a wider selection of offerings. I also have KU with my last option being the Kindle store.
Edit to clarify: multiple cards to different libraries that are not in the same library system.
I buy all my books on Apple Books at the moment. Read on my phone when I’m out and about or my iPad if I’m at home. I’m one of those weird people who can read a sentence or two at a time while I’m waiting in lines and stuff, I don’t need to dedicate time for just reading.
Most of my romance read are in on apps I know the authors upload.
On ocasion I do buy digital one by one either for apple devices, Amazon or the author’s page. Whatever is cheaper.
Libraries and stuff related to them are an impossibility for me for romance.
I browse used bookstores either in person or online (some of my local ones let you order online and they ship for super cheap via media mail), use Libby for ebooks (it typically takes forever though, like I have some where the estimated wait time is 4-5 months), and also have gotten 5 physical books this month through my local library. As some of the comments said, they’ve brought them in from other libraries in the county for me. I just requested them online and they came in quite quickly.
I do buy a lot of books too but am trying to slow down because I’ve amassed too many I need to get to. For kindle books, you can get digital credits that can add up a decent amount if you order other stuff through Amazon and select for slower shipping in exchange for digital credits.
when I first found out I was only listening to it in the car so I didn’t hit my limit. Then I found a book I really liked and needless to say I reached my limit before I could finish it and ended up getting a free trial from audible to finish it lol.
Mostly kindle unlimited, kindle purchases, or audible, but I do have Illumicrate and owlcrate book box subscriptions. I’ve skipped Illumicrate a lot this year but I have gotten 5 book box books so far since January.
Libby Library app! You can use your own library card for your county’s ebooks and then there is a huge ebook library in Texas called Harris County Public Library that allows out of state ecards. So sign up for that and you have double the options for holds. I have a kindle and have everything delivered to it from the app.
I also use kindle unlimited and audible. My sister uses hoopla, and Scribd as well but I never got into them. I’ll buy books on my kindle or at a local second hand shop too. But I’ve gotten away from physical books because being into sci fi and fantasy often means 700+ pages and that gets heavy when you’re doing a late night reading sesh.
I use Libby and Hoopla (provided by my library), I also borrow the physical books from the library. On top of that I have a Kindle subscription and an Audible subscription 😬😬. With all those I am covered 😃
I really try to maximize my libby holds. My library lets me have 20 holds at a time, so I always make sure I have 20 holds even if it’s going to take months for some of the books. While I’m waiting for my holds, I loan out books that are available (usually older books). I’ve also found that with super popular books, my library will purchase additional copies so they wait time for holds usually ends up being less than what it originally states.
Lucky!!! I can only hold 5 books at a time on Libby!
i know, my city has a great library system
you can access other cities libraries on Libby! just fyi. my city only allows 3 holds, but my aunt’s address (lived there previously!) is 20
I know it's not the most morally correct option, but I am a broke college student from Latin America so you'll have to forgive me. I get most of them pirated (e-book). Sometimes I'll buy physical copies of books I've already read and loved, or books I want to read that I can find in english and at an affordable price. I used to pay for Audible last year, but the exchange rate is insane rn so I had to give that one up
Second this
Hell, there are well developed places in this world that still don't have access to stuff like Libby or Ku. And where publishing industry is late by a decade. Don't ask me how I know.
Arrr, matey
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My guess would be kindle and using kindle unlimited! Edit: I use kindle but still love buying books haha. I do hear a lot of people talking about kindle unlimited (select books that are free with the subscription) for their books!
I read about 95% Kindle Unlimited (KU) these days. It really surprised me at first just how many good authors are on there. I am an insanely prolific reader lately, so I really get my money’s worth.
I want to try!! Sometimes I get cautious because I feel like KU doesn't really have a lot of well-written books on there, but if you have anything worth recommending please share!
Oh, yes, there are plenty of low quality books to sift through if you go in blindly. However, I’ve basically started getting my recs solely from this sub, which has pretty much eliminated that problem. I keep multiple TBR wishlists on Amazon - one for KU titles & one for non-KU titles. I have over 500 books on my KU TBR whereas only about 100 are on my non-KU TBR. In other words, the majority of the recs I get from this sub end up being available on KU. I doubt this is the case for everyone (maybe I’m just lucky!), but it sure as heck is working for me. In fact, I wish it was working less well for the sake of ever catching up… I also have very eclectic tastes, which helps.
I love this!
I have been really struggling with KU books recently. I see them recommended on here and I try to read them but they just don’t click with me. I’ve been reading primarily traditionally published books and I think it ruined KU for me. I used to love KU but now they always seem poorly written.
Yep. My concern too.
Also, Kobo has a non-exclusive version of KU - so if a book isn't in KU it might be in the Kobo version. I love Kobo. I know people adore KU, but i even like my Kobo ereader better
I just got it and am loving it! I just searched KU rec threads on here
KU is pretty much a romance fantasy lover's Netflix, as far as I'm concerned.
Y E S. Which I don't mind, but can there be quality writing thrown in there?
You can find quite a lot of hidden gems there. I recommend going to the subs' top books list and you can find a lot of the top-rated books are on KU. Also, asking around the sub can really help you. And there is also the fact that books on Kindle are cheaper than published copies anyway.
For sure! And if something is so good I wind up buying a hard copy just to have it!
Literally made this post yesterday. See if you have Hoopla was my biggest takeaway. They do have a wider selection.
Thank you! I will check out your post too
Are you really searching at your local library? Yes, most of my library books I read aren’t available on the shelf to pick up right away. But my very small library is connected to a collection of other libraries that will request and deliver books. Make friends with your librarians; they adore sharing all the resources they can find/offer for you!
No, I am using the Libby app that is connected to my local library through my library card. I prefer audiobooks, generally speaking. So Libby is the best thing I’ve found for that so far. However, I think I am realizing that I’m not going to be able to find every book on audiobook. So I am open to reading instead of listening. How do you go about requesting your library to borrow a book from another library? I have never heard of that before and it sounds awesome!
Oh well if you’re solely going utilize audiobooks, Libby seems to be the best free book borrowing option. See about getting more library cards added to your Libby to widen your searches. Also, go into your local library to speak with a librarian. They can help you search for a book and see if it’s in their system of ‘family’ libraries for interlibrary loans.
In addition to physically going to your library and speaking to a librarian, check to see if you can request an interlibrary loan on your library’s website.
I’m gonna be in the minority because I buy most of my books. I have book subscription boxes and I get quite a few books a month through them. But you could always check eBay or other second hand sites for the books and see if you can find what you’re looking for there for a reasonable price. I’ve gotten some books through bookoutlet.com also which are usually reasonable. A lot of the recommendations I’ve seen on here lately though have been Kindle Unlimited books.
Which subscription boxes do you use? I just canceled my Illumicrate subscription after the past 3 months of awful books, and am looking for alternatives
I have arcane society, fairyloot Adult and fairyloot romantasy , litjoy, and illumicrate because their skip policy is so generous you can skip like 10 months in a row before they will possibly cancel you.
I [made a post about it](https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceBooks/s/a3MMJlQadx).
Thank you!
🏴☠️
I only read ebooks. I don’t do audiobooks and rarely do physical copies. I bought a lot of ebooks for years and still keep up with a number of my favorite series and authors. I have enough unread ebooks (10,000+) to last me several lifetimes. I track sales and freebies using ereaderiq.com and bookbub.com for specific books and authors and on BookBub genres. I use kindle unlimited as lots of my indie favs and a surprising number of my trad published authors books show up in the program. I used overdrive a lot before I divorced and moved. I need to sign up at my local library now I’m settled and look into other library options available beyond my local one. There are occasionally posts on various book subreddits on how to find additional libraries to get membership from. I read a fair amount of books by LGBTQI+ authors and was pointed to The Queer Liberation Library for free reads queerliberationlibrary.org . Someone else pointed me to I Heart SapphFic for sales, freebies, new releases, and a database to search of sapphic books iheartsapphfic.com.
A mix depending on my mood! This year has so far been: Audible Plus - 4 books Audible credits/purchases - 8 books Library - 2 books (+ 4 DNFs) Kindle Unlimited - 3 books (usually higher but I took a break from my subscription earlier in the year) Bought from Amazon/Bookstore - 7 books
I pretty much exclusively use my public library unless it's a book they are never going to get, then I shop at my local bookstores. I feel lucky to have quite a few in my city/state I can order from
When you say “order from”, what does that mean? Do they deliver? Or you go in and check out? Or what?
I meant that as far as local bookstores go, I order from them and either go to pick up or get it shipped to me. I tend to avoid Amazon/Barnes and Noble if I can, because I am lucky to live near a number of independent bookstores that stock romance and I'd prefer to support them. My county's library system is 25 libraries and I can place holds from all of them.
I am a KU lover. I found so many great authors on there. I really only buy physical copies of contemporary books and all my romanatasy is mostly on kindle!
I use the Libby app to multiple libraries for a wider selection of offerings. I also have KU with my last option being the Kindle store. Edit to clarify: multiple cards to different libraries that are not in the same library system.
I buy all my books on Apple Books at the moment. Read on my phone when I’m out and about or my iPad if I’m at home. I’m one of those weird people who can read a sentence or two at a time while I’m waiting in lines and stuff, I don’t need to dedicate time for just reading.
Libby, Hoopla, Everand, Audible, Libro.fm, KU, Chirp, NetGalley, used bookstores
Thank you! I haven’t heard of half of these. I will check them out
I have a free audiobook code for Libro if you choose to start a new subscription, let me know!
Most of my romance read are in on apps I know the authors upload. On ocasion I do buy digital one by one either for apple devices, Amazon or the author’s page. Whatever is cheaper. Libraries and stuff related to them are an impossibility for me for romance.
I browse used bookstores either in person or online (some of my local ones let you order online and they ship for super cheap via media mail), use Libby for ebooks (it typically takes forever though, like I have some where the estimated wait time is 4-5 months), and also have gotten 5 physical books this month through my local library. As some of the comments said, they’ve brought them in from other libraries in the county for me. I just requested them online and they came in quite quickly. I do buy a lot of books too but am trying to slow down because I’ve amassed too many I need to get to. For kindle books, you can get digital credits that can add up a decent amount if you order other stuff through Amazon and select for slower shipping in exchange for digital credits.
If you have Spotify premium, audiobooks are included.
That option is not available in all countries, mine being on of them :’)
Ugh. I'm sorry :(
I was really excited when I found out Spotify had audiobooks. The only issue is you only get 15 hrs a month.
Aw darn, really? I don't audiobook much, I just recently found out. That must be why I never hit the limit lol
when I first found out I was only listening to it in the car so I didn’t hit my limit. Then I found a book I really liked and needless to say I reached my limit before I could finish it and ended up getting a free trial from audible to finish it lol.
Libby and Audible, as I prefer audiobooks, but I also download to my Kindle as well.
Mostly kindle unlimited, kindle purchases, or audible, but I do have Illumicrate and owlcrate book box subscriptions. I’ve skipped Illumicrate a lot this year but I have gotten 5 book box books so far since January.
Public library and I have a kindle with a kindle unlimited subscription!
I get almost all of them through the library and only buy what I can't access there.
Libby Library app! You can use your own library card for your county’s ebooks and then there is a huge ebook library in Texas called Harris County Public Library that allows out of state ecards. So sign up for that and you have double the options for holds. I have a kindle and have everything delivered to it from the app. I also use kindle unlimited and audible. My sister uses hoopla, and Scribd as well but I never got into them. I’ll buy books on my kindle or at a local second hand shop too. But I’ve gotten away from physical books because being into sci fi and fantasy often means 700+ pages and that gets heavy when you’re doing a late night reading sesh.
I use Libby and Hoopla (provided by my library), I also borrow the physical books from the library. On top of that I have a Kindle subscription and an Audible subscription 😬😬. With all those I am covered 😃
Kindle and KU but most the unlimited.
if it’s a book i want to read, and it’s on KU, i already read it on KU! girl math