Helzerman's Odd Bits » BookSwim http://helzerman.com/oddbits Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:19:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 http://helzerman.com/oddbits http://www.helzerman.com/oddbits/images/fav.ico Helzerman's Odd Bits Four Places to Get Books Cheap or Free http://helzerman.com/oddbits/1322 http://helzerman.com/oddbits/1322#comments Sun, 02 Nov 2008 03:04:26 +0000 oddbits http://helzerman.com/oddbits/?p=322
Looking for an alternative to Barnes & Noble or the local library?  Here are four places that offer books for low prices or, in some cases, for free.  I’ve included sites offering books in print (delivered to your home) and online, as well as an iPhone application that I enjoy. SwapTree is an eBay-like online trading [...]]]>

Looking for an alternative to Barnes & Noble or the local library?  Here are four places that offer books for low prices or, in some cases, for free.  I’ve included sites offering books in print (delivered to your home) and online, as well as an iPhone application that I enjoy.

SwapTree is an eBay-like online trading site that allows users to swap books for video games, DVDs or other books. The site has features to make the trades easy including the ability to print the correct postage from your computer. Swaptree is likely to appeal to readers looking to save money on new purchases while getting rid of old books they won’t read again.

BookSwim has taken a Netflix-style approach with an online book rental library service starting at $9.95 per month. Readers “check out” books ranging from new releases, bestsellers, or classics the way one would select DVDs from Netflix or a video store. As with Netflix, shipping is free both ways and customers can keep the books for as long as they want. Customers also have the option to any buy books they rent.  Many readers, myself included, don’t hold on to books once they’ve read them.  With hard covers costing as much as $25 (sometimes more); BookSwim could be a money-saving option for the avid reader.

Google Book Search does not offer books itself, however it has an excellent search/browsing interface which includes pointers that will tell you if a book can be acquired for free (books that no longer are covered by copyright and can be downloaded for free from The Library Project), or where the book can be purchased/downloaded.

Stanza for iPhone and iTouch offers a clean, crisp interface that is easy to navigate. Text appears crisp and can be viewed both horizontally and vertically. The application offers an impressive selection of over 40,000 titles including both books for purchase and free titles. The application has consistently ranked in the top 25 applications (listed in App Store) since its launch.

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