Used Book Stores? Paperback Books?

[skp51443]

My Amazon Kindle app for Android has two book lists, the ones stored on the device and the ones stored on the Amazon cloud. You can skim the list on the cloud to see purchases you have made UNLESS you delete them from the cloud. There is really no reason to delete a Kindle purchase from the cloud since the storage is free and once deleted from the cloud storage pool you have to buy it again to read it or loan it to someone.

 

The Amazon "manage your digital content" web page also shows you all purchases and uploads that haven't been deleted so that is another option.

 

Last but my favorite, if you open a book's web page on Amazon it tells you if you have purchased a book in that format. You will have to check each format offered that you may have used as it doesn't warn you if looking at a Kindle version but you have purchased a paperback version earlier. Also I do not think you are warned if you have bought a used book.

 

 

I know the joy of paper books, just bought a copy of The Princess Bride to read to the grandkids in hardcover, no way it would be the same on a screen.

[2gypsies]

Thank you Stanley!

[Velos]

Was in Susanville, CA for a couple of weeks weather was great; cool days and cooler nights perfect escape from the desert heat.

 

While in town we checked out this used book store, great selection, friendly help.

 

Margies Book Nook

722 Main St
Susanville, CA 96130

(530) 257-2392

https://www.yelp.com/biz/margies-book-nook-susanville

[whj469]

I am a avid reader, US History. I use a Nook because the last three book set

on the Civil War was just under 4,000 pages. I wouldn't want those books or their weight

in my RV.

[rynosback]

Go to any public library. They usually have a shelf or shelves of books for sale.

[mysticmd]

For those of us w/aging eyes, the Paperwhite Kindle does allow you to set the brightness of your screen, the font style, the spacing between lines as well as the size of the margins, and a good scale of size of type. You can read your Paperwhite Kindle in the bright sunshine with zero glare, while a vehicle is moving w/out getting nauseous, and of course with the variable back light, in a completely dark room and every condition in between.

 

I rarely pay for a book - Amazon offers so many quality e-books as others have mentioned, and if you don't purchase something for a bit, they send me coupons via Facebook, and then I use the coupons to get free books. The lack of weight of a Kindle is wonderful vs even a paperback, so I don't hesitate to drop it in my purse to read if I get in a slow checkout line or doc's office or in my day pack to sit by a stream on a hike with a book.

 

Of course, don't forget about www.loc.gov - our LIbrary of Congress to browse at your leisure - books, audios, maps, movies, etc.

 

Happy Reading!

[Dutch_12078]

I use Calibre as the master library for our 800+ volume e-book collection. I convert the original formats from Amazon, B&N, etc to epub format for distribution to our Android phones and tablets. We use the Moon+ Reader Pro app, and it synchronizes our reading positions between devices using DropBox, as well as automatically importing new books that I've copied to individual DropBox folders for each of us from Calibre. We subscribe to a couple of mailing lists that send us daily listings of free and low cost books from Amazon, B&N, etc. We also have cards for the upstate NY Mohawk Valley Library System (Overdrive access) and the NY City Public Library. Both have very extensive e-book collections.

 

Just a note: Calbre is capable of opening and converting DRM protected books, but doing so gets into some copyright grey areas legally, so I'll only suggest Googling for more information on it.

[OverSoul7]

I love my Kindle!

 

I have a collection of books that are special to me but they are hard cover and heavy so I've been finding and adding those to my Kindle. I'm preparing myself for giving away the books down the line.

 

I like that I can read in the dark with Wayne sleeping and not need any other light than the Kindle.

 

Christine/Colorado

[hokiephile]

You'll want to sign up for Bookbub:

https://www.bookbub.com/home/

Bookbub keeps track of ebook prices and lets you know when something goes to a really low price.

You'll get a daily email with links to Amazon, and one or two other bookstores with ebooks on sale. Often they'll post something that's on sale for free.

You get to pick the genres you're interested in. Some great books come around. I recently got Doris Kearns Goodwin's bio of LBJ for $1.99 on Kindle. In fact, I just checked and it's still available for that price.

The extra low prices often last only for a day or a few days, so you need to snap them up while they're available.

[skp51443]

I hadn't thought of this topic for a while so I have a couple updates.

 

I signed up for Kindle Unlimited on Amazon's Prime Day along with their Prime service, that got me a big discount on a 24 month Unlimited subscription along with the other Prime goodies like video and music as well as the free fast shipping. If I was travelling I'd have Prime just for the shipping speed. I now have read about 100 unlimited books and have almost 700 in my to-read wish list. Only pain is you only get 10 at a time and you need to manually keep track (spreadsheet works well) of what you have already read to keep from downloading it again, no cost just aggravation so it is no big deal. Amazon is working on a pile of complaints and comments on this and thay have made a lot of improvements in the last couple months and promise more.

 

My purchase list has really shrunk to a very few authors, hard to pay $15.00 for a book when I can read something else for free off my unlimited list.

 

I got mom (now 93) a pair of Android tablets for her birthday, one for IHeart Radio (with a big bluetooth speaker) and one to read, check mail and light surfing. She is happy with that combo and even happier that she hasn't paid for a book yet, she just goes to Amazon and searches for a genre and sorts it with the free offerings listed first. Hundreds of decent books out there free for the download if you have a Kindle or Kindle app and an Amazon account. I also loan her some of my non-Unlimited books that are on topics she cares about.

 

Scroll down left side for genre list: https://smile.amazon.com/Kindle-eBooks/b?ie=UTF8&node=154606011

 

Pick a sub-genre or other option, that gets you to a sortable screen.

 

Sort by price low to high.

 

This link: https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_price-asc-rank?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A133140011%2Cn%3A!133141011%2Cn%3A154606011%2Cn%3A157305011%2Cp_n_feature_fourteen_browse-bin%3A7130649011&qid=1479405294&bbn=157305011&sort=price-asc-rank

 

Gives you... Lots. Too many. So I quit at 10 pages of 16 books each that were listed for $0.00 - free to download.

 

No clue how many more free ones on just this tiny section:

Kindle Store : Kindle eBooks : Mystery, Thriller & Suspense : Action-packed

 

Kindle app free, Amazon account free, books free, that appeals to a lot of folks! Authors find that giving a freebie leads to sales of later volumes in a series or their other works so they are always adding stuff to the free lists. To recheck an area you have shopped out you can set it to show new books in the last 30 or 90 days to bypass what you have already picked over. Again only for this tiny sub-section of books:

 

New Releases

• Last 30 days (762)
• Last 90 days (1,966)
• Coming Soon (117)

[Nomad Hiker]

Wouldn't give up my Kindle for the world! I have just recently started borrowing books from library on it, and so far it is working good. There are also free books you can get! My husband never thought he would give up the "feel" of a "real" book. 2 weeks on Kindle and he was hooked. Lay in bed and prop it up and just push a button or swipe to change pages. Much easier than holding a book.

[skp51443]

I have a stack of paper books that I bought to read, I just can't stand to go back to the small print so most of them are likely to never be read or be purchased for my Kindle at some point. My reading glasses are great but given the choice a bit of zoom on the Kindle is a lot more pleasant.

[mysticmd]

Didn't catch it if anyone else mentioned this benefit of the Kindle Paperwhite --- I can now read while the truck is in motion. Previously, within 20 minutes I'd be nauseous trying to read a book or mag, even with larger print. Now, with my aging Kindle whose battery is holding up just fine,thank you, I can read endlessly in the truck and also in bright sunlight with no repercussions. And like many of you, there is so much free with my Prime m'ship (inc movies, TV shows, music) I'm not purchasing much, and enjoy the speedy free shipping.

 

As for you Amazon shoppers, I hope you are using www.smile.Amazon to have Amazon donate to your selected charity. It's only a half of one percent, but it adds up. Amazon has donated almost $38 million this year due to the Smile program. It costs you zero with zero effort. Thank you, Mary

[TXiceman]

A lot of campgrounds have swapping libraries....leave a book, take a book.

 

The next place we look for books on the road is thrift stores and flea markets.

 

Ken

[Nomad Hiker]

I have a stack of paper books that I bought to read, I just can't stand to go back to the small print so most of them are likely to never be read or be purchased for my Kindle at some point. My reading glasses are great but given the choice a bit of zoom on the Kindle is a lot more pleasant.

I had cataract surgery last year. Before that I could read great as I was near-sighted...couldn't see distance, but no problem with up close. I had them correct for distance when they did the surgery, but not quite perfectly so I could read a little. I hate wearing readers to bed. With the zoom on the Kindle I can read without readers. It's a little fuzzy, but better than wearing glasses. During the day, I still have prescription glasses that I wear when I need them.

 

Didn't catch it if anyone else mentioned this benefit of the Kindle Paperwhite ---

I still have my Kindle Keyboard - the original style which has no back light at all. Instead I have a cover with a pull out light, which works off the kindle battery, if I want to read at night. I love it and will be so sad if it ever goes to the Kindle graveyard! I read mostly at night right now and anything that is is back-lit, interferes with my sleep. I would definitely do paperwhite as it seems the next best choice. They don't make the keyboard anymore!

[skp51443]

I'd really like to get a Kindle rather than a Kindle app on my tablet but the small screens are frustrating. I looked at the old DX version with a big screen and keep hoping they will do another with something close to 10 inches.

 

As for you Amazon shoppers, I hope you are using www.smile.Amazon to have Amazon donate to your selected charity. It's only a half of one percent, but it adds up. Amazon has donated almost $38 million this year due to the Smile program. It costs you zero with zero effort. Thank you, Mary

 

I signed up for the Smile donations, picked the Wounded Warrior project for mine. Lots of options that should have something you'd like to support and it costs you nothing.

[Dutch_12078]

My wife and I gave away our Kindles several years ago, and upgraded to larger more powerful Android tablets. We also switched from the Kindle reader app to Moon+ Reader Pro that gives us many more options and format support. Moon+ also supports synchronizing between our tablets, smartphones, and laptops (Moon+ running in an Android emulator). I can be reading along on my tablet and then switch to my cell phone or laptop, and pickup right where I left off on the tablet. Very handy!

[Yarome]

I guess I was born too late. I really DID give the kindle an honest try. My kids swore if I tried it exclusively for 2-4 weeks I would never go back to paper. I proved THEM wrong!

 

Couldn't stand it. Not so much that the device was difficult to use. I can see where it could be attractive, but it was very difficult to read in direct sunlight (where I prefer to lounge and read a good book) and it always seemed like when I was in the mood to read.. it was in the mood to be recharged. Nothing more frustrating than getting to a good part half-way through a reading session and get the "low battery" notice.

 

There are a very few books I re-read over and over that I keep, but my preferred method is AMAZON! The worlds used book selections at your fingertips for $4 a pop for "like new". Really hard to beat. It's not entirely "cheap" or "free", but the selections are endless and an extremely affordable form of entertainment/enrichment, IMO. I generally order up a dozen or so to tide me over for a couple few months then drop them at goodwill, library or such.. whatever is convenient.

 

Then again.. there is so much out there that I've never read (many no longer in print or in digital form) that I'm not one to be chomping to get the newest releases.

[2gypsies]

We have favorite authors and it seems that the free books are by want-a-bees. We'd hate to get into a book and find that it's not worth finishing. Do you find this to happen often?

[Yarome]

We'd hate to get into a book and find that it's not worth finishing. Do you find this to happen often?

 

For the 1 month that I tried the kindle... absolutely. I probably went through 15 books or so from their "free" selections but never got past a chapter or so before giving up on all but 1.. which was still a little difficult to maintain interest in.

 

I'm sure if you were a member of one of those e-book clubs and trusted their recommendations it might be different.

[skp51443]

I've found a good number of free Kindle books that I liked and that other folk had left good reviews of. If you step up to paying $0.99 a lot more books are available and I have an even larger number of them on my Kindle. I follow authors I like on Amazon so I get notifications of reduced or introductory prices, I also subscribe to a lot of author's newsletter where you will find lots of great free short books and advance warning of sales.

 

If you go with Kindle Unlimited you have a huge selection of well rated books to choose from, the number keeps expanding as Amazon makes the Unlimited program more attractive to authors. I have more than 600 waiting in my to-read queue, all rated above 4 stars.

 

I am trying to decide what to do with my print books, my eyes aren't going to get better and if I want to read them again I'll get a Kindle copy.

[lappir]

Fair warning, before you start reading, this is my unwavering opinion that nothing in life is FREE.

 

 

Free, free, free, free, free, free, I could go on and on and still not have the number of times I saw free when I read the latest in this topic. Most of us are old enough to really know there is nothing FREE, Right?? There is freedom of choice and maybe you could say you are seeing my opinion on the matter is free to an extent, but it's really not. Each and everything you do has a cost to someone or something. It may not take money out of your pocket directly but there is or was a cost and you will or are already paying for it. Take a look around you and see how many family businesses are still in your location. Do you remember when every small town used to have a grocery store that was operated by a family who played a huge part in your life? You went to school with the children of that family, where are they now? Maybe they work for Amazon.

 

This Saturday is Small Business , but guess what? It was started by American Express to get you to spend money on your AMEX card so they could take more money from the small businesses. http://investorplace.com/2016/11/what-day-is-small-business-saturday/#.WDGNtfnyuUk

 

I know it's easier to just go on line and find what you want and have it delivered to your door and I get frustrated a lot when I try to find something in a store only to have the clerk say. We don't have it right now but would be happy to order it for you. I find that a lot when I am trying to do a little repair or maintenance on my motorcycle, car or truck. I really love it when it's a "dealer only part" and they don't keep the parts in stock.

 

It's not free, it's not free, it's not free

 

Next Saturday visit as many small businesses as you can and bring cash. Hopefully you will find what you need and will be able to return many more times in the future.

 

OK my Rant is over

 

Rod

[ms60ocb]

My wife's favorite store for used paperback books is "Books to Share" in Kerrville Texas. A well organized store. It is more expensive the Salvation Army and the such but she finds the books that are rare or missing from her authors list. The store also has a fair trade pricing

Clay

[ccsimpson]

2nd Hand Books in Mesa, AZ is great. The pay you cash for your used books if accepted. You don't have to use just their in store credit. The store is big and they have a huge collection.

[bobsallyh]

My wife always hits the used book store in Dillon, MT. along with several others in our travels including Deseret Thrift, Salvation Army, Goodwill, etc. But Goodwill in many areas is pricing themselves out of the used book business and other things. They are building fancy buildings or leasing space in high dollar business areas.