How To Read And Listen To Your Favorite Books For Free

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I have a confession to make, lately, I have been obsessed with shojo mangas … It’s at a point where most of the people working at Barnes and Noble know me because I spend a lot of time there.

Here’s the problem, you read mangas really fast and they usually end with a cliffhanger so you want to know what happens next right away. I do have a Barnes and Noble membership so I can save money and try to buy books only when I have coupons but it got out of hand.

Seriously, I had no more room on my bookshelf and I was spending way too much money.

Last week, I returned a few books at Barnes and Noble and sold others to Half Price Books. By the end of the day, I had $200 back in my bank account. I know it’s that bad.

For my defense, I read a lot, especially now that I try to go to the beach a few times a week to get out of the house and enjoy the sun.

I had to find a way to conveniently read for less money.

Here’s another thing you don’t know about me, I’m a little germaphobe and hate handling used items, especially books. It’s just that I don’t know where they’ve been before.

After trying a few things, I found a way to get access to to books for free and I am going to share it with you 😉

1. Get your Free Library Card

A few months ago I took a class to learn how to create a business plan for my photography business La Parisienne Boudoir.  In one of the class, a librarian came to talk about all the amazing tools available at the library to do market research for your business plan.

So I finally went to the library and got a card.

What I love the most is that you don’t need to go to the library to get access to all the services. Once you have your card you can get download apps on your computer, tablet, and phone!

A few free services that my library offers:

• Lynda.com for online courses
• RBdigital for digital magazines
• Hoopla for movies, TV shows, and music
• Libby for digital books and audiobooks

I mean this is awesome, all of this content for free. If you are like me and love learning new skills you are served! Plus if you have a Chromecast, you can watch the videos on your TV!

Today we are going to focus on Libby since this is what I use the most 😉

2. Create a Libby account

All you have to do download the Libby app on your phone, create an account and then add your library card to it.

Then you will have access to thousands of books and audiobooks for free! They even have mangas and graphic novels 😀

3. Get a Kindle

I have to say that for years I was against having a kindle, I thought that I would never use it because I like to read real books, and the blue light on tablets prevents the melatonin to be created in your brain making it difficult to fall asleep.

But it all changed when I realized that I could borrow library books on Libby for free and send them to a Kindle making it easier to read. And I have to say that Kindles are amazing.

Last week Amazon had a promo for Kindle bringing it down to $59.99 instead of $79.99 plus with Ebates I got  4% cash back. When I looked at how much I was spending on books every month it was totally worth the investment.

Why I love the Kindle:

• It’s easier to hold than a book, especially when you are in bed
• You can change the font size to make it easier to read
• You can listen to Audible books
• You can bring it everywhere
• It’s smaller than books
• It reads like real paper
• There’s no blue light
• You can send the books from your library and read for free
• There’s no sun reflection when I read outside
• It fits in my purse and is not heavy
• There are no notifications
• You can take notes and highlight passages while you are reading

And to be honest, I wouldn’t read the books I borrow on Libby without the Kindle. I do have the apps on my phone and tablet but it doesn’t feel like a book, plus I get distracted by notifications all the time …

I only use my tablet to read colored graphic novels, but for mangas and books, I prefer to access them from the Kindle.

4. Borrow Books on Libby

Now that you have your account on Libby, you can easily borrow the books and audiobooks that you want!

But here’s the catch, some books are really popular so you might need to place it on hold and wait for a few weeks, some of the books I placed on hold had a wait list of 12 weeks.

So if you don’t care to wait it’s fine, but if you want to get access to these specific books right away, I have something for you.

Amazon is offering a 30-Day Free Trial to the readers of Hello Peaceful Mind for:

• Audible: get two free audiobooks
• Kindle Unlimited: unlimited access to over 1 million ebooks and  thousands of audiobooks
• Prime: you can get access to a few books with your Amazon Prime account

I personally have a Crunchyroll membership because I read a lot of mangas and watch a lot of animes right now.

It’s cheaper for me to have a membership than buying them one by one.

But the library card and the membership doesn’t cover all of the series I am reading so I also buy a few books at Barnes and Noble when I have coupons on top of the members discount.

In the end, I spend less money than I used to 🙂

The key is to find a membership program that will complement your library availability.

If you read mostly bestsellers, Kindle Unlimited will probably the best for you because the library queue might be long for these books.

5. Send the book to your Kindle

When your book shows in the loans shelf in your Libby account you can send it to your Kindle easily.

1. Click on “Manage Loan”
2. Click “Send To Device”
3. Select “your Kindle device”
4. Click  “Send To Kindle!”

It will then download the book on your Kindle the next time it’s connected to WiFi

And voilà!

Save for later

Further Reading:

• The Best FREE Resources to Live a Healthy and Happy Life
• 5 Powerful Summer Reading Books To Make You Happier
• The Best Audiobooks That Will Change Your Life
• You Do You, A Book That Will Make You Feel More Confident
• 12 Hobbies That Will Reduce Your Anxiety And Make You Feel Fulfilled

Over to you

Do you have a kindle? What do you like about it?