Stop your reading habit costing you a fortune

Here’s how book lovers can save money on e-books

Almost a third of Brits read more during the first lockdown than ever before*. Online book clubs, including our own Good Housekeeping Book Room, are more popular than ever. The Duchess of Cornwall, who is patron of the National Literacy Trust, even encouraged everyone to get reading by starting her own book club on Instagram. Most e-readers have built-in bookstores that put thousands of books at your fingertips, ensuring you are never without a good read, but this can get costly. Follow these simple tips to get free and discounted books.

RENT FROM A LIBRARY

Most local libraries lend e-books for free. Some libraries use the Overdrive system, which is built-in to Kobo e-readers, so you can download books straight to your device. The Overdrive app is also available for iphones, ipads, Google Android devices and Amazon Kindle Fire tablets. Unfortunately, if you have a Kindle, they will be in the wrong format; books must be downloaded to a computer, tablet or phone first and transferred to your device using a USB cable. You can also use the Libby app to do this.

AMAZON BENEFITS

Spend £7.99 a month to get unlimited access to books on Kindle Unlimited. Subscribers can also access the First Reads programme for free. Each month, you can choose one of eight books, picked by Amazon Editors, to read 30 days before it goes on sale. It costs 99p if you don’t subscribe to Kindle Unlimited or Prime.

DISCOUNTED BOOK ALERTS

Bookbub.com is a free service that lets you choose the genres and bookstores you’re interested in, then emails daily links to relevant titles that are free or heavily discounted.