………here’s a tip that really helped me and my family - RENTING BOOKS. We found the Netflix of books, Bookswim, and it’s been amazing to save money for required school reading in addition to my personal reading. we rent instead of buy - genius!
- Jennie
I hear you can also rent books at your local library! For free!
Okay, enough snark. Jennie does have a great point. Bookswim is basically Netflix for books, meaning you can keep them as long as you want and mail them back and forth for free, only paying the subscription. It’s a reasonable alternative to the library, especially if you’re a slow reader and find yourself always accruing late fees at the library.
However, there are some problems. If I find a book personally useful, I tend to write a lot in the margins - and that’s a big no-no with Bookswim and with the library. I tend to use PaperBackSwap for my book habits. No monthly fee at all. Roughly $2 to send out a book you’ve already read and get another book in exchange for it in your mailbox. If you want to keep a book - say, a copy of a business book that you’ve scribbled all over - you sure can, no problem, no cost.
I think Bookswim does hit a particular niche quite well, one that isn’t met by the library (late fees, long wait lists) or by PaperBackSwap (sometimes limited selection, cost-per-book instead of per month). If you’re an avid reader, it’s probably worth considering.
