Books Subscription Services + Apps I Use
Reading can be an expensive hobby, especially since Social Media has the ability of making a book go viral. If you’ve been keeping up with me, you’ll know I haven’t purchased any books for myself since May 31. I’d come to rely on book store visits provide some much needed serotonin. But then, I wasn’t reading those titles right away…so they started to pile up. In a big way. So, I vowed to take the Summer off from buying books.
Now, I am very lucky because I’ve built up relationships with publishers since I started Read & Wright, so I still find books at my doorstep. But what I’ve been trying to do this season is utilize all the “free” ways I can read. And once the Summer is done, if there are books I can’t stop thinking about, I will purchase copies to add to my home library.
Right now, there are too many books on my shelves that I purchased and don’t love. I want the books on my shelves to be full of the 4-5 star reads that I want to reread. So, I’ve been reading digitally more! I keep track of the “omg” books in a note on my phone and if I still have that feeling come September 1, I’ll order them!
Scribd—This is probably one of my most used apps. I love Scribd because if I really want a new release, they tend to have most! And unlike with the library, you don’t have to wait. When it comes to audiobooks, I generally want to be able to listen on demand. It’s $9.99/month and a great deal in my opinion!
Libro.fm—You know I love Libro.fm! It’s $14.99/month and your money goes to the independent bookstore of your choice. You can change up whatever store you choose to support whenever you want. I like to support The Bookstore Plus because we want to support the community we love so much there. But it’s also a great chance to support a bookstore owned by a marginalized group in order to redistribute funds. For example, if you don’t have an LGBTQ+ or Black-owned bookstore in your community to shop at in person, you can support virtually!
Overdrive/Libby/Hoopla—These are fantastic apps to use through your library. I personally like using them to put ebooks and physical books on hold from my library. I don’t read a ton of audiobooks from the library because I’m not patient, but it’s great for physical and ebooks for my reading habits! I use Overdrive the most.
Goodreads—I post my reviews here every Thursday, but if you don’t want to wait, I always keep my Goodreads up to date.
StoryGraph—The StoryGraph is great because it’s a little more in depth than Goodreads and includes half star ratings, content and trigger warnings, pacing, and more. I don’t post my reviews here but I do keep track of my reading. I like the “challenge” features they have as well!
I’d love to know what your favorite subscriptions are! I don’t get any book boxes because I am trying to live more minimally (it’s hard) but these are the things that improve my reading life for little to low monthly costs!