One Year Without Buying a Book

I've said it before, I'm a nerd. And I love book lists, especially if the word "classical" is involved. So I've been working my way through some of these lists over the years. The best part about reading these old books is that they are all past copy right dates, so they are all free online! Also, I had a ton of books bought or salvaged from the free book shelves that I had never cracked. I knew there would be plenty to read without ever having to step inside a book store.

Before I left for my year of travels, I downloaded an app called Free Books and paid for the upgrade to include the audio books. I also used my kindle app. There were so many books on my "Want to read List," available for free, that I was never without material to read, or to listen. I got used to reading off my tablet, as it was so much more convenient and economical when traveling. I spent every night falling asleep to some adventure story.

Recently, I also have tired Oyster books in the last month. Oyster books sells itself as the Netflix of books. They were offering a free month trial, of which I took advantage. Not everything I could ever want is there (no Harry Potter?!), but enough. The entire Agatha Christi collect is available, which makes it all worst while. It will also make book club easier to attend if I can read the assigned books without buying them.

Now, of course there are some disadvantages. I will never be comfortable reading my iPad in the bath tub, and that's my favorite place to enjoy a good book. So I still took advantage of free book shelves to get my hands on actual paper every now and then. But I am sold on electronic books on the whole as the green way to go.