Free Books!

I love books, books books books, I love to buy them and read them and look at them and feel them and put them on shelves and rearrange them. And now I have discovered that I like scouring the internet and old used book store for free books!  Yep you heard me right, FREE BOOKS.  How does one score such a wondrous gift...well I will tell you.  You have to put some effort in, but it can be done.

Online- This is probably the easiest, fastest way to obtain new and even better, classic books.  If a book has gone out of copyright in the US then it is considered public domain and can be shared with any US citizen for free.  There is an awesome site called Project Gutenberg that has everything from Jane Austen to old school manuals on how to raise a barn.  This site is just fun to explore and it is completely free! Feel free to donate if you have some spare cash.  You can also sometimes find free books on sites like Amazon or Barnes and Nobles that are from newer authors trying to hook you, or sometimes even established authors.  This is a great way to discover some new favorites.
ARC's-Sometimes if you are very lucky, or if you run a successful blog you can get ARC's or Advanced Reading Copies from either the publisher or from one of the distribution sites like NetGalley.  Different companies handle ARC's in different ways so it may take a little effort, but it might be worth it to read a book before the general public.  I don't do this very often as my backlog of TBR's is so huge if I started adding yet to be published books...well I would probably implode.  The other thing to be careful of is that these are may still be edited before they are actually published using advanced reader feedback, so the final book may be a wee bit different from the one you read.
Giveaway's-There is always a give away going on, either on various blogs, author sites, publishing sites, so many people want to give you books.  Again this takes a bit of effort, but usually it is as easy as logging in, or giving them your e-mail address and commenting to qualify.  I have even seen groups of blogs get together for a progressive give away.  If you are willing to look and take some time, the possibilities are endless.  This is also a good way to get some interesting versions of books, or signed copies, or bundles, it all depends on the giveaway. This is a great way to visit other blogs and sites and find some new favorites (note to self, should probably do a giveaway at some point soon).
Book Swapping-This is where you essentially take a book you have already read and swap with somebody who has a book you want to read.  This is not totally free as you need to have books of your own, but it is a "free" way to expand your reading repertoire.  You can do this with people you know, or you can use a site like BookMooch which works on an international point system.  The plus side to this is that you can get books you have been wanting, or looking for that are hard to find for free.  Especially on the websites the variety is mind boggling.  The down side is you usually have to give up one of your own books.  If it is with a friend or family member, you may get it back, but if it is a true swap...bye bye book.  Also super popular books are a little harder to come by.
Free Bin-This is where your second hand book shop once again proves to be your best friend.  Not only does it provide you with a plethora of books (some of which are impossible to find otherwise) for a usually decent price, but a lot of them also have the free bin.  This is where you can bring books you no longer want, or that the shop decides are probably not going to sell, or are not in the best condition and are put out for first come first serve free for all. These bins are usually outside, and you can usually tell why they are in the free bins, but if you take some time to go through them all you can occasionally find a gem.  This is also a great place to get books to tear apart for some of the projects using books and pages without feeling guilty about tearing up a good book.
Library-of course I cannot leave out the oldest and still most wonderful way to get free books.  Your local library!  Here is a place you can pick up any book at no risk, you can delve into new authors, try a new genre, see if that hyped up book is really worth it.  Several libraries are even offering e-books to rent!  Of course the down side is that you do have to return it at some point, or they make you pay for it and it is no longer free, but still better then no book at all. Libraries also tend to have periodic book sales with there own free bins, so keep an eye out.

So there you have it folks, six ways to obtain books at no cost to yourself.  I wish some of these had been available (or more accessible at least) when I was a broke college student.  The library was my best friend and I would hunt down and swap books with a vengeance.  This is a case where technology has enabled more people to have access to more books which is always a good thing.
What is your favorite method for obtaining free reading material?  Do you mind giving up or returning books once they have been read so you can get new ones, or do you become unnaturally attached to the vast majority of your books?  How has e-books changed your reading/buying/swapping habits?

Around The World In A Zillion Variations

One of my favorite things about fairy tales, mythical creatures, and fireside stories is the prevalence of them around the world.  I love to see the differences and the similarities between these old familiar tales and characters told in different places and through out time.  Some characters, creatures and stories are specific to a place or time, but most have a similar counterpart in most places.  To further my research on my favorite at the moment I acquired a book by Heidi Anne Heiner who also runs the SurLaLune site.  This book in particular is about the mermaid tales from around the world.

Mermaid

This is a nifty not so little book that is an incredible resource for people who want to delve into the stories of these fabled creatures.  This book contains observations, history, analysis and most importantly stories from around the world and through out time.  

Sleeping Beauty

There are several of these books, each focusing on a different story, it's origins and variations.  These are not sit down and read like a regular book type of books (does that make sense?).  They are more of a pick it up and find out interesting tidbits here and there. They also make for great resources if you are trying to write a new story, or just want to find out more about the originals (there is always more than one).

Cinderella

Unfortunately the hard copy editions of these books are pretty pricey which sucks 'cause I would like to see all of them lined up on my book shelf looking all pretty. However here is where e-readers are awesome because I can get all of these (there are like 15 of them so far) for closer to 10 bucks a pop instead of the 30-40 bucks the hard copies were costing (and that was for paperbacks!).  Like I said before, these are long, non linear, research type of books.  The content is wonderful and the illustrations awesome!  So anybody who wants to know more about there favorite fairy tale would enjoy the thoroughness of these books.  Anybody want to loan me a couple hundred bucks to buy the set?

Nerd Girls And Boys Unite

Books are the great equalizer, most every person will read at least one sort of book at some point in time.  But there are a few of us who are a tad bit fanatical about our habit, the following is a small taste of an awesome site that among other awesome geekery also understands us bookworms, enjoy and then go check out Nerd Girl Problems and Nerd Boy Problems for other fantastic funnery (that is totally a word).

Does your geekery spill out of books and into other parts of your life? (I'm a super geek, Star Trek, Firefly, Dr. Who, The Avengers, Star Wars, Stargate, the who shebang!)  Are you proud of your geekery or do you keep it locked in the closet?  When did Harry Potter enter into the realm of geekery?

Quoth The Owl "Pottermore"

Cool new multi-media thing going on in the Harry Potter world.  A site called Pottermore is finally open to the public.  It is a combination of an interactive book and a bit of a social media site.  I have been through the site and have to admit it's a pretty nifty place for us Potter addicts. The main part of the site is a shortened version of the books with 2 to 4 interactive scenes per chapter.  While you can get the gist of the story from the brief phrases that accompany each scene, you will be much less confused if you have actually read the books.  The site suggests reading the book along with the interactive one for the best experience.
Throughout the book, you unlock other things to do as well, such as getting your wand, obtaining a Gringotts account, buying school supplies and selecting your pet/icon (mine is a Tawny Owl).  You eventually get sorted into a house, learn to cast spells and brew potions.  You can collect various objects through out the chapters such as books, Galleons, potion components and random objects.  My favorite part is the new content that J.K Rowling has put in for us to unlock.  It is either new information about characters and places that never made it into the book, or her own personal inspirations for certain things (like why she has the Dursley's address as  Number 4 Privet Drive).

The more social aspect of it comes in after you have been sorted into your house (I'm in Slytherin), obtained a wand(12 inch Sycamore with a Dragon Heartstring, surprisingly flexible) and learned the art of brewing potions.  Once you have accomplished all this you can participate in wizarding duels with other houses (I have yet to win one), brew potions (would be a lot more fun if it didn't take so long, then not work if you can't get right back to it) and gain house points by finding various objects throughout the scenes.  As of right now only Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is available, the other 6 books should be out later.  This kind of sucks because once you have finished the book (which really didn't take me that long) there is not a whole lot to do other then brew potions and duel, neither of which for me hold my interest for all that long.  Overall I think it is a fun little site, that can only improve as long as they stay on top of it.  I will probably pop back and check in on it as least once a week or so, and the extra content is definitely worth checking out.

What do you think of interactive sites for books?  Does it promote reading or is it just another excuse to zone out on a computer game?  What house/pet/wand do you have?  Isn't it great that you are never to old for Harry Potter?

You Know You Do This Too!

Found a really cool site called Bookfessions that I think anybody who has ever picked up a book and enjoyed it can relate too.  The following are a small sample from the site

What is your book confession? Do you think these people are a little nutty or do you identify with them completely?

Mmm...Cake?

One of my favoritist websites in the wide world of the internets is Cake Wrecks.  I am not sure what it is about this site, but it makes me very happy every time I get on it.  As this is a book blog I am sure you are all thinking...um I'm sure it's a great site, but we are here to read about books, and book related things not cake.  Well that is the best part, she has not one, but TWO books out that are just as funny as the website.

Cake Wrecks

Wreck the Halls

These books are awesome!  I love to put them out when I have guests over, you can see them kinda glance at them in curiosity, then pick it up with a confused brow wrinkle, then start flipping through the pages with groans and peals of snorted laughter.  Word of caution, under no circumstances, no matter how excited you are to read them on the way home from the bookstore should you point out the more outlandish cakes to your Hubbin while he is driving in traffic on 495...just saying :-)  Take a look at the website, and if you like what you see get the books, you will not be disappointed I promise.

What do you think of books made from websites?  Do these wrecks make you want to go on a diet, or oddly make you hungry for cake?  Why is it milk chocolate frosting always looks like poo piles?