Recessionista: Recession Book buying

Reading a book is a great way to cheaply pass the time during an "economic downturn" - plus, you might even learn something.

Start at your local library - for those in the NYC area go to the New York Public Library. Once you have a library card, the NYPL website (and many other libraries) allows you to put up to 15 items on request. You can track the progress of your request online and they will deliver it to the branch of your choice. In addition, the NYPL has a "wish list" feature where you can keep track of items you want to request in the future. You hardly even have to go into the library!
Don't forget that you can also borrow CDs, DVDs, and music scores from the library as well as all sorts of useful books on personal finance & planning, DIY projects, cooking, travel, careers, graphic novels & comic anthologies, etc.

When you want to buy a book, avoid the big-box stores where you'll be lured into over-spending on full-price merchandise.

Instead, shop online:
FIRST, look for your title at The Strand online: hard to find and out-of-print titles at super discounts (half-price!). They will ship to you for an extra charge or if you live in NYC, go to one of their stores and pick up your purchase FOR FREE.

I bought these 2 books online from The Strand:
Full price, I would have paid $36.90! At The Strand, I paid $19.98 for both and I got a nice copy of an out-of-print book.






At the very least look on Amazon where prices are almost always discounted and they will ship for free if you spend a minimum of $50. Amazon also has a nice community of used book sellers who have discounted and out-of-print items. Half.com is another resource (it's much the same sellers as Amazon).